The Lair of the Lich King
by Sealgirl
Summary: COMPLETE. The kids enter a strange, empty, ruined land, only to find that it’s not so empty after all. When things go wrong, it's up to Hank and Diana to save the day: But that isn't as easy as it sounds!
1. I Spy

DISCLAIMER: The characters and the series itself are not mine, but belong to someone else.

STORY: Set after the story 'Double Trouble' but it is NOT necessary to read that story, since it is not a sequel.

RATING: PG13.

THANKS: Again goes to everyone who is kind enough to take the time to leave a review. Thank-you :)

* * *

The Lair of the Lich King

Chapter 1 - I Spy

'It's your turn, Hank!' said Bobby the Barbarian eagerly. 'C'mon!'

The Ranger gave a long sigh.

The mountains and their last adventure were many days behind them. Once they had descended into the valley, they had had a relatively easy and straightforward walk through the strange grasslands, heading south all the time.

Normally walking through the wilds wasn't such a trial, but today everything seemed to be getting on his nerves. They had been walking since sunrise, he was still hungry and still sore and tired from the long march of yesterday. The others are all subdued as well, except the Barbarian and his pet unicorn. Bobby was young, he was also unfailingly cheerful, except in the more serious situation, and today Hank could really have done without it. Bobby had insisted on walking next to Hank, with Uni in tow, and playing some games to help pass the time; the Ranger thought that "I Spy" was getting very dull, but Bobby didn't seem to mind at all, even though they had been playing it for most of the day.

Hank took another deep breath, trying to think of something easy for the Barbarian to guess, just to get him to stop bugging them all about it.

'I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with…' he looked around. Ahead of him were just unending grasslands in the base of the valley (it was still grass, even though it was purple), with the occasional dull grey of a rock poking through. The sides of the valley were very steep and craggy and dark black, and he had had no desire to try and climb them. Fortunately, neither had any of the others, even Diana the Acrobat, they were content to walk quietly along behind Hank and Bobby; even Eric the Cavalier was quiet, which was a pleasant change.

Up above, the suns had passed overhead and the sky was turning from rich, clear blue to the red tinged violet of the afternoon. And it wouldn't be too long before the suns dipped below the line of the high hills and they would have to make camp. Then they would have to worry about food. Hank sighed again.

'Hank!' said Bobby loudly, prodding the Ranger with his Club. 'Beginning with what!'

'Um… Beginning with…' Hank looked around trying to think of something quickly. 'Beginning with G!' _Grass_ seemed to be a good one, and he hadn't had that for a while. Bobby should get that pretty easily and then maybe they would be able to walk in peace.

'Hmm,' said the Barbarian. 'G!'

Bobby looked around, and the little, white unicorn by his side copied his movements.

'Um… great big rocks!'

'No.'

'Oh. You sure?'

'Yes, Bobby! C'mon, it's not that hard!'

'Hmm.'

'Gulls.'

Hank gave a little laugh, amused in spite of his negative mood.

'But you can't see any gulls!'

'Those are gulls!' said the Barbarian, pointing to the south. 'And huge ones too!'

Hank looked at the three great birds circling ahead. As he watched the birds flew closer.

'Um, those aren't just gulls,' he said with a grin. 'Those are E-gulls!'

'Huh?'

'Eagles!'

'That's not fair!' snapped Bobby. 'That doesn't begin with G!'

'It's not the answer!' replied Hank. He pointed 'Eagles! And their coming this way!'

The others in front of them heard as well, and they stopped to look up.

'Those are really big eagles,' said Presto the Magician nervously. 'They have to be the size of a seven-four-seven!'

From low down on the ground, their Unicorn gave a whine. She looked up to the Barbarian, her big, pink eyes full of fear.

'It's ok, Uni,' said Bobby protectively. 'They won't get you, I'll make sure of that!'

He brandished the Club, just to show her he meant it. Hank looked at the birds and thought that the Unicorn wouldn't be of much interest to creatures that size, little more than a very small snack! Even the kids themselves wouldn't be that much better. _Maybe we're too small for them to bother with,_ he thought.

The gang of seven stopped as the giant birds flew closer, and looked up. They had seen a few giants before, the war-bird that Dekkion had ridden, and the bird that they had hitched a lift on while trying to get to Darkhaven; but neither of those were like these. They seemed to be pure white from head to tail, and almost seemed to shine in the glare of the three suns. Even from so far away, Hank could see the slow and majestic sweep of their wings up and down. They were huge!

'Um, Hank,' said Sheila the Thief, fiddling nervously with the hood of her Cloak, 'Look, do you really think we should just stand here and watch them. Well, I mean, we don't really know what they are, after all!'

Hank was very tempted to agree with her, but there was something about them that didn't feel "evil". Besides, they were probably too small to be of much interest.

'What do you suggest?' came a voice from beside Sheila. It was Eric, standing with his hands planted defiantly on his hips, and facing the oncoming birds. 'We could hide, but there's not exactly a lot of cover around here, is there!'

He ached his eyebrows and wiggled his arm, the one with the Shield on it, and everyone knew what he was hinting at!

'You know, I think they've seen us,' said Diana the Acrobat, pointing at the birds. 'They seem to be heading straight for us!'

'We'd better take cover, somehow,' said Hank. He looked at Eric, but the Cavalier had already lifted his Shield sending a glow of yellow energy around them.

The group crouched low to the ground, Uni sheltering right beside Eric and directly under the raised Shield, Bobby was by Uni's side. Diana and Presto were just behind, looking up past the other to the oncoming birds. Lastly, Sheila the Thief was next to the Cavalier and Hank knelt down beside her, slipping his arm around her waist protectively as they watched the birds approaching.

They waited, and the waited a long time and Hank suddenly realised he'd been wrong. These weren't _huge_ birds at all; they were enormous, almost too large to be real. The mismatch in size had made them look closer than they actually were.

He exchanged nervous glances with the Thief.

'What are those things,' she whispered.

'Don't know,' he whispered back. As he tightened his grip around her waist, she turn to him and smiled.

The birds came nearer and the gang waited, huddled together on the ground.

There was the thunderous swish of beating wings and the three giant birds flew majestically overhead. Hank risked looking up. Even though they were still a few hundred feet up in the air, they seemed close enough to touch. He could make out the steel-tipped claws on the end of their talons, and see the slight ruffle of their feathers and the air whistled past.

One of them swooped very low, and Hank was tempted to pull an arrow, but they didn't appear to be trying to attack, they had made no secret of their approach and the bird seemed to be more curious than hungry. Ahead of him, Uni whined and pressed herself closer to Eric's Shield.

The air around them whipped up to almost gale force, and they were buffeted from both sides by small vortices and eddies whirling by. Hank was forced to look away and cover his eyes, even though the sight of the three majestic birds was quite compelling.

Fortunately, almost as soon as the winds had started they faded away, leaving only slight gusts and waving grass in its wake. The group slowly stood up, one by one.

'Wow!' breathed Bobby. 'That was great!'

'What were those things!' asked Diana.

Hank turned to face Diana as he answered, but saw a small, red robed figure standing just behind them. It was their Guide.

'Dungeonmaster!' he said. The old man gave him a slight bow.

'Nah,' replied Eric, still watching the retreating birds, 'those were too big to be Dungeonmaster!'

But Diana had turned, and had seen their Guide too.

'Dungeonmaster!'

Eric finally turned around as well, and he regarded the old man with fake surprise.

'Oh, you mean _that's_ Dungeonmaster! I see!'

'What were those things, Dungeonmaster?' asked Bobby eagerly. 'They were great! I've never seen anything so humongous, ever!'

'Those were White Rocs,' the old man replied. 'The largest bird in the entire Realm.'

'Wow!' said Presto.

'Neat!' said Bobby.

'They were beautiful!' said Sheila.

'And it was a good job they weren't hunting!' said Eric. 'Don't look at me like that! It was!'

Hank wasn't paying much attention to the Cavalier, he was still looking at Dungeonmaster.

'You are fortunate, in some ways,' said the old man. 'Very few people in the Realm have seen these magnificent birds.'

'…and survived!' added Eric, quietly.

Their Guide was looking odd; Hank would have said "unhappy" was a better description. And the elation at meeting the old man vanished under a wave of worry.

'What's wrong, Dungeonmaster?' he asked.

'In these parts, the sight of a White Roc is considered an ill omen,' said Dungeonmaster sombrely.

'But we saw three,' Diana pointed out. Hank wished she hadn't, as Dungeonmaster's face grew darker.

'Yes, Acrobat,' he said. 'You have seen the only three White Rocs left in the Realm. And that is a very bad omen indeed.'

'Why?' asked Eric bluntly. 'C'mon dm, old buddy, why don't ya tell us the _really_ bad news!'

Dungeonmaster flicked an annoyed glance at the Cavalier, but didn't ignore the question.

'These Rocs was the guardians of the mountains, and something has frightened them away,' he said.

Hank looked in the direction the Rocs had flown off in, trying to imagine what kind of creature could frighten something as huge and powerful as that.

'What could frighten a thing that size?' asked Bobby.

'It must be huge!' said Presto.

'Or terrifying,' said Sheila.

'Or evil,' said Diana.

'Or all three,' added Eric, unnecessarily Hank thought. They all got the picture!

'Thanks, Er-ic!' said the Acrobat curtly. 'We had that figured out too! There's no need to state the obvious.'

'Oh, really?'

'But then "obvious" is the only thing you're good at!'

Bobby gave a little snigger, but the Cavalier gave her a hurt look, then stuck his tongue out at her.

'Nice retort,' said Presto. 'They get better every day!'

'Can we concentrate on the problem at hand?' Eric asked, looking down to Dungeonmaster. 'We were discussing those birds!'

The Guide nodded.

'Indeed Cavalier, those birds have fled from this valley and many other creatures, both good and evil, will be doing the same.'

'What about us?' said Sheila. 'Shouldn't we be joining them?'

Dungeonmaster didn't answer her directly, but instead looked to Hank.

'Ahead is the ruined Citadel of Kish,' he said. 'It is a place steeped in magic, where powerful forces bend the world to their will. It was a necropolis, and within its wall many heroes lie at rest. But I know of no portal with in its walls…'

'Well, that's that!' chipped in Eric, turning around and looking back the way they came. 'What are we waiting for, a written invitation? Let's go!'

'… but,' continued Dungeonmaster, not bothering to look round at the Cavalier. 'But the next portal you seek is located in the lands beyond.'

'Can't we just go around?' asked Diana.

'To do so would take many, many days of walking and climbing, and then you would have to pass through the Valley of Fire and the Scorched lands. Both are very dangerous!'

'And so this Kish place isn't?' demanded Eric facetiously. 'A necropolis! Steeped in magic! As fun places to visit in the Realm go, it sounds like a blast!'

'Er-ic!' said Diana and Bobby in chorus.

'Yes, Kish is dangerous,' admitted Dungeonmaster, finally facing Eric. 'But only if you stray from the safe path. If you were quick, and quiet, you may be able to pass safely through.'

'Well, that's never gonna happen!' muttered Eric. 'Not with our luck. You might as well be sending us to that place with little "Attack Me!" stickers pinned on our backs!'

Dungeonmaster gave him a harsh stare, and turned back to face Hank.

'However, Ranger, time is running out,' said Dungeonmaster. 'Whatever has scared away the White Rocs will most likely be there already. If you are to travel through Kish, it must be soon.'

He was looking at Hank, and waiting for his answer. The Ranger hesitated for a second, but the thought of having to travel many, many days didn't appeal, especially not through places like the Valley of Fire, or the Scorched Lands. If there was a short cut, they should try it. They had managed to overcome almost everything the Realm had thrown at them so far, and he was confident that Dungeonmaster wouldn't send them into anything they couldn't cope with.

'Ok, we'll go through Kish,' he said.

'Gee, thanks for checking with us, first!' muttered Eric.

Both Hank and Dungeonmaster ignored him, but Diana gave him a good, hard poke in the arm and a scowl.

'Very well,' said their Guide. 'To find the Citadel you must first find cross over the Entrance Stone. And to travel through, you must stay on the safe path through the citadel. Do not stray away, even for a moment, or you will loose yourselves in the ruins. Such is its power over the unwary.'

Hank nodded.

'What about the Rocs?' he asked. 'What about the thing that scared them?'

'Whatever it is, you must avoid it.'

'Don't _you_ know what it is?' asked Sheila.

Dungeonmaster shook his head slowly.

'As I have told you, Kish is steeped in magic. My powers are of no use there. There are few things in this Realm that would frighten such a powerful beast as a White Roc, and there were none that I knew of within the Citadel of Kish. My magic cannot penetrate its walls. What has risen there, I cannot say for certain.'

For a second, Hank wondered if their Guide had actually told them all that he knew, or feared. But he also knew Dungeonmaster well enough to know that they weren't going to get much more help.

'Don't you have any more information to help us, Dungeonmaster?' asked Diana. 'Please?'

'Whatever has risen in Kish, it is driving all living things away from the Citadel. It will not be expecting anyone to pass through. But you _must_ be quick, my Pupils. And remember, if you stay on the safe path, then you will not come to harm.'

'But how do we know which path is safe,' asked Eric, the usual sarcasm in his tone surprisingly missing. 'Do we get any hints or have to make it up as we go along?'

Dungeonmaster looked at him approvingly.

'You will know which way is right,' he said. 'And you must always choose.'

'Huh? Always choose… what?' asked the Cavalier.

'Yes.'

'Yes, what?'

'Always choose.'

'What?'

Eric looked round at the others in despair.

'Is this making sense to anyone?' he asked. 'Or is it just me that thinks the ol' Dungeonmaster has a page missing in his riddle book!'

'He's gone!' said Bobby.

Eric stared at the spot where Dungeonmaster had been a moment earlier.

'I know I should be surprised,' he said, waving his hands in the air. 'But I'm not. Dungeonmaster and his amazing vanishing act are just old hat now! Especially when it's just done to avoid answering real questions with real answers! Always choose! That makes no sense!'

'Well, I guess that's why they call it a riddle, Eric,' said Diana.

'That wasn't a riddle, that was a statement!' he retorted. 'I know the difference between a riddle and a statement, you know!'

Hank had to agree that Dungeonmaster's latest riddle did seem less riddly than some of his others, but at least they knew where they were going next.

'C'mon guy's,' he said. 'Let's get going.'

Everyone but the still grumbling Eric agreed, but the Cavalier followed on anyway when all the others moved off. The rough path they had been following eventually disappeared into the sea of long, purple grass and they just had to wander forward, hoping they were going the correct way.

They walked for another half an hour without seeing anything unusual, except all that purple grass, but eventually they found some large stones half hidden in the ground. Other than these it had all been perfectly flat and grassy. More than that, the stones seemed to have been part of a sculpture at some point. They were rounded and edged in a way that was just not natural. Uni sniffed it and screwed up her nose with an annoyed bleat.

'We must be getting closer to Kish,' Hank said as they examined the stones. He looked ahead, but couldn't see any sign of a city. 'I suppose! At least it's a sign of civilisation.'

They walked on again and found some more stones, along with the occasional stunted blue tree poking out of the waving grass.

'This place is weird,' said Sheila, as she walked by his side.

'Weirder than usual?'

'Yeah!' she said with a laugh. 'So that's saying something!'

'It feels funny too,' added Bobby, who was walking just behind. 'Kinda creepy.'

'This whole damn Realm is weird and creepy,' said Eric firmly. 'The sooner we get outta here the better.'

'Hey guys!' called Presto from a way up ahead. 'Come see this!'

The Magician had stopped by a large boulder.

'That is what we humans call a boulder,' said Eric helpfully. 'You know, a very large rock. They have them in these parts.'

'Ha ha ha,' replied the Magician. 'That wasn't what I meant! Just come here!'

'I'm overwhelmed with relief!' said the Cavalier with a smug grin.

'Knock it off, Eric!' Hank could see that Presto was getting annoyed himself, and that he had something important to say. 'What is it Presto?'

But it wasn't a boulder, it was part of a column. And the other parts were scattered around in the grass nearby, lying as if something had just pushed it over. The statue that was at the top was sitting on its side in the grass just ahead. And it was the statue that Presto was pointing at.

'Tell me that isn't who I think it is,' he said. 'Please!'

Hank walked up to the overturned statue, treading carefully as he went, and Sheila followed behind him.

There was no mistaking it, even though it was lying on one side, half covered under the waving grass.

'That's Venger!' she said in surprise. 'With one horn and everything!'

'That's what I thought!' said Presto. 'Darn it!'

'But what's a statue of ol' horn-head doing here?' asked Diana.

'Maybe the people who lived here, you know, worshipped him,' suggested Presto. 'Or maybe he was some sort of king.'

'Whatever it was,' said Sheila, 'It doesn't look like he holds much in the way of subjects around here now. This statue has been lying here for ages, it's covered in moss and grass and stuff.'

Bobby gave the fallen statue a gentle shove with the end of his Club, but nothing untoward happened. The Young Ones all stared at it for a short while, not sure what it meant. Eric grew bored first and when he walked off and the others all followed.

They hadn't gone very far before there was a loud growling noise coming from somewhere ahead.

'What was that?' asked Presto. 'You did hear it, didn't you?'

'Eric's stomach?' suggested Bobby with a grin.

'Shh!' Hank ordered. 'Stay still and keep your eyes open.'

They formed a defensive line, their weapons drawn. Sheila stood right next to Hank with her hand on the hood of her Cloak, ready to vanish. The Ranger slowly pulled an arrow.

There was another noise ahead, more of a hissing than a growl, and the grass ahead

swished.

'Something's coming!' whispered Bobby raising the Club. Beside him, Uni was cowering on the ground.

The wave of moving grass came closer forward, and a great, black cat, the size of a lynx or a jaguar, came prowling out, staring at the six kids (and the Unicorn) with shining silver eyes. It hissed, and crouched low to the ground as if preparing to pounce.

He was about to let his arrow go, but the cat didn't attack, it just stayed where it was, staring at them.

'Stay still!' Hank ordered as the cat hissed again, its long thick tail writhing on the ground behind it. 'No one move!'

They stayed as motionless as statues for a minute, the cat doing the same. Then very, very slowly, it lifted its head and sulked off to their left, within a few seconds it had disappeared back under the cover of the grass leaving no trace that it had even been there.

'That was weird!' said Presto. 'I've never see a big cat do that before!'

'I've never seen a big cat that close!' said Diana. 'Why didn't it attack?'

Hank shrugged.

'My guess would be that it's running scared. It didn't want to waste time on us!'

'That's not good,' said Sheila. 'Is it?'

Hank shook his head.

'We'll probably meet more creatures, the closer we get to the Citadel.'

'Everyone stay on your guard,' said Hank. 'And keep a good watch out for more animals!'

For the next fifteen minutes they walked in more slowly, everyone expecting another cat or something worse to jump out at them. But they saw nothing but more stones and broken statues, and the occasional patch of stunted, blackened grass and dusty grey sand.

Everyone was quiet and wary, keeping a close eye out for more animals. Though they heard noises every so often, they saw no more creatures for some time.

Eventually, they came to what looked like an old archway, though half of it had toppled over into the grass. It was wide enough for all of them to walk through side but side, but it was low, or would have been had it still been standing. It had parts of a wall on either side, though they was mostly demolished as well, and there were the occasional statues of cats carved into the alcoves.

In the centre of the archway was a large flat stone, about 10 feet long and five feet wide, set into the ground and very slightly raised up, like a step. Hank paused and knelt down beside it.

There was no writing on it, only pictures that had been immaculately carved into the stone. There was a picture of a high tower in front of a shining star (that could have been a sun, Hank wasn't sure), and below it figures of people, again carefully carved into the stone, each with their own individual features in miniature.

'Well,' he said at last, 'I'm not sure but this could be the Entrance Stone that Dungeonmaster told us about.'

'That would mean that Kish is just in front of us,' said Diana.

'Where!' asked Eric, pointing to the sea of purple grass ahead of them. 'I don't see a city anywhere!'

'Dungeonmaster told us "To find the Citadel you must first find cross over the Entrance Stone",' Hank reminded them. 'We haven't crossed over yet!'

The Cavalier rolled his eyes in a theatrical manner as Hank walked across the stone. He looked out over the grasses, and suddenly understood what Dungeonmaster had meant.

'Hey Hank! What do you see?' asked Eric. 'Has Kish miraculously appeared out of the grass?'

'Um, well, no, not exactly.'

'See!' Eric said loudly. 'I told you! It's not like there could be a whole city here and we couldn't see it!'

The Cavalier was the last one to cross, and he came to a halt just beside Hank.

'Oh,' was all he said.

They were standing at the edge of a cliff, a man-made one, that looked down over a great city carved _into_ the ground itself, but still not underground. The tops of the various buildings were covered in grass and they blended in extremely well with the surrounding countryside.

The streets were set down into the ground, and were relatively narrow compared to the buildings, but wide enough not to be able to jump over the gaps from rooftop to rooftop. From a few feet back there was no way to see any of the fissures, and it had seemed as though there was nothing but plain purple grassland in front of them.

On either side of the city the hill rose up as sheer rock-faces along the sides of the valley, ensuring that the only way to continue was to pass through the citadel.

As he looked around, Hank noticed that, carved into the stones just to their right, was a wide set of steps leading down to the level below.

He glanced down nervously, but the street that he could see seemed to be empty. The kids all looked round at each other.

'Well,' said the Cavalier lightly. 'What are we waiting for?'

* * *


	2. All Seeing Eye

Chapter 2

All-Seeing Eye

They descended the steps in single file, Diana first and Hank last.

There was almost complete silence, even when they moved the sounds seemed to be sucked out of the air. The street itself was dusty and the smell reminded the Ranger of the attic back at his house; it was a very distinctive, musty smell. It made him feel uneasy. The others didn't seem happy either, as they paused at the bottom of the steps, looking around nervously and no one moved very far.

'Smells like the Metropolitan Museum!' muttered Eric with a huff. 'Yuk!'

Diana regarded the Cavalier incredulously, but made no comment.

'Now we're here, what are we gonna do?' asked Bobby, turning to look at Hank.

Hank looked round, that question had been on his mind since they had heard about Kish from Dungeonmaster!

They were standing on a street with houses down one side. The street itself seemed to stretch all the way from one side of the valley to the other, but there was no way to be sure without walking to find out. And it seemed a very long way!

'We have to get through Kish,' he said, thinking out loud. 'There's no point in following this road to the mountains.'

He took another look around. The buildings close by were all similar in shape and size, and all seemed to be in various degrees in dereliction. He didn't fancy going in to any of them, not even to look around, as they had the look of something that was just standing by sheer luck rather than firm foundations.

None of the others wanted to look either.

'This place is creepy,' whispered Sheila. Next to her, Uni was standing quietly, looking very uncomfortable with being there. 'It feels like the walls are watching us.'

Hank waited for a moment, expecting a derisive and snide remark from Eric. But none came.

One by one the others turned to look at the Cavalier, who looked back in surprise.

'What?' he asked. 'What's wrong now?'

'What's happened to your mouth, Cavalier?' asked Diana pointedly. 'Can't think of a good comeback.'

'Look, Diana, just because I happen to agree with her this time doesn't mean you can all…'

'That's it!' said Hank loudly, turning round and pretending to look around wildly. 'We're gonna start walking right now! The moment Eric starts agreeing with people is the moment our luck officially runs out! Let's get moving!'

'Ha ha ha!' snapped Eric. 'Funny! Funniest thing I've heard all day!'

'Certainly better than anything you can come up with,' Diana said.

Eric screwed up his nose at her, and was about to reply when Hank cut in.

'Stop bickering and start walking!' he said, pointing to their left. 'This way!'

No one disagreed with him, and they all moved off down the street.

Hank wasn't sure quite what he'd expected in Kish. From what Dungeonmaster had said he was on edge and on his guard, but somehow the city did quite fit in with his expectations.

Certainly, at the start of their journey through the city, nothing happened. It was eerily quiet, their footsteps muffled by the thick layer of sand on the ground and the sandstone of the buildings. No one seemed inclined to talk, even the childish sniping of Diana and Eric petered out within a minute.

They walked for a long time, at least an hour straight through the City as the suns dipped below the tops of the buildings.

The road seemed to be descending, and they walked in deep shadow, even though it was still daylight and blue sky above them. It was a difficult walk, it was warm and quiet and they all seemed to get tired and thirsty very quickly.

They eventually stopped for a short rest near a crossroads, one of the few they had passed in Kish. The road they were on led straight onwards, though Hank couldn't exactly make out if it kept going straight, it was too dark to see. The other road cut across as an acute angle, and seemed to curve away round a corner not far ahead.

The seven of them rested uneasily.

'How far do you think we've come?' asked Diana at last.

'Not sure,' Hank replied. It had been difficult to judge distance in this place. On a good day they could do three miles in about an hour on this kind of ground, but three miles seemed like an awful lot today. He was sure it was less.

'Dungeonmaster said we had to be quick,' said Presto. 'I wonder how much further we have to go.'

'At least the same again,' said Hank, trying to be realistic.

There was a collective sigh from the group.

'And I hope we are going the right way,' added Sheila. 'What do you think Dungeonmaster meant?'

No one seemed to be able to answer her. Now they were actually in the city, Dungeonmaster's riddles didn't appear to make any more sense than they had earlier!

"_You will know which way is right,_" Dungeonmaster had said. "_And you must always choose_." Choose? Choose what? He didn't understand.

Hank looked down the straight road as it stretched off into infinity with a frown on his face. There was something really odd about this place! To was magical, yes, but there was something more.

'I hate just sitting here,' said Diana. 'This place gives me the creeps.'

He had to agree with here, for all the rest they'd had, none of them looked any happier. The sooner they got out of Kish, the better.

'Ok,' he said. 'Lets go.'

The Acrobat was on her feet in an instant, and had already taken a couple of steps down the straight road when Hank called out to stop her.

'Why are you going that way?' he asked suddenly.

Diana, and all of the others turned to stare at him, confused.

'What?' she asked.

Hank hesitated. He wasn't that sure what he meant either, but it seemed to be important.

'Why that way?'

'Well,' she said slowly, 'it was the way we were going, and I just thought…'

Something clicked inside Hank's head, as he thought about Dungeonmaster's riddle:_ You must always choose!_

'That's it!' he said. 'This place, it's like a maze, and it's magic. But there is no set way out!' He looked round excitedly at his friends. 'That's what the riddle means. We have to choose!'

'What?' said Eric. 'You mean we can just choose the way out! Well I choose an exit over there!'

The Cavalier pointed to one of the broken down buildings close beside them. Everyone turned to look, and see if anything had changed, but nothing had.

'I'm not so sure you're right,' said Diana, looking back to Hank.

'Wait a minute,' said Sheila, 'didn't Dungeonmaster say something about powerful magic changing the Realm at will?'

'Actually,' cut in Eric, 'he said "It is a place steeped in magic, where powerful forces bend the world to their will".'

Diana regarded the Cavalier in surprise.

'How do you know that!'

'I was listening!'

'Maybe,' interrupted Sheila, 'it just means we have to want to get out. We have to keep thinking about it, keep choosing our way rather than just following the road.'

She looked at Hank for approval, and he smiled.

'Yes,' he said.

Only Eric looked doubtful, but he didn't raise any objections.

'What have we got to loose,' said Sheila, facing the Cavalier.

Eric gave a grudging nod.

'Ok, then, if you're so convinced. But let's just get going, huh!' he said.

'So which way are we gonna go?' asked Presto.

Hank took a deep breath and pointed down the straight road.

'That way!'

Much to his relief, everyone followed his lead, and they all walked off again.

He hadn't expected much to happen, they were following a straight road, after all, but they had only been walking for a few minutes when the road started to curve off to the right.

Hank looked round at the others and smiled.

'Looks like you were right, Sheila,' he said. 'We're certainly going a different way now.'

They kept walking, and Hank kept on thinking about where they wanted to be, hoping that he had made the correct choice. Slowly, the style of the city changed as the bland, ramshackle buildings were replaced by more ornate ones that seemed to be in better condition.

The mood of the group lightened, and they all began to relax a little. Sheila fell into step beside him; Diana and Eric were back sniping at each other, and even Uni seemed happier, trotting ahead with Bobby and Presto.

They walked on.

The road kept descending, and soon they seemed to be deep underground, except with a blue sky. There was no sunlight down there, only dark and cold shadows.

At last, after another hour of walking, the road stopped at a wide square lined with tall, ornate buildings. This was lighter and less claustrophobic than the street, but there was still no direct sunlight. But in the centre was another statue.

The kids all stopped at looked at it, no one saying a word. It was obvious who it was, except that its head was missing. But they didn't need that to know that this was another statue of Venger.

'Whoever lived here were not great fans of ol' horn-head!' said Eric at last.

'I wonder what happened to his head,' said Presto.

'Maybe someone took it to give him a face lift,' suggested the Cavalier with a smirk.

Hank looked around the square. There was nothing much to see, apart from the statue and the surrounding buildings. There were three other roads that lead out; two of them seemed to curve off back towards the way they came. The other one was in the centre of the opposite wall, and it had a tall, carefully carved double archway over it.

He let them rest for a few minutes longer, but no one seemed comfortable in the shadow of the giant statue. Trying to rest with a headless Venger watching over you was _not_ a good idea.

But there was something else that seemed to be bothering everyone.

So far, as they had travelled, everyone had been subdued, and much less talkative than usual. Hank had noticed it in himself; even when Sheila was walking next to him he didn't want to talk. He would have expected some petty arguing from Eric, or for someone to wander off and look around, but no one did.

The others must feel the same, as Hank knew that being in this city made him very uneasy.

Uni was standing next to Bobby, looking intently around, her ears pricked for any small noise. So far, they had heard nothing, but their own muffled footsteps.

As he sat, thinking, the Thief leaned towards him.

'This place is as quiet as a tomb,' Sheila whispered to him. He nodded.

'It is a necropolis,' he replied, matching her tone. 'Dungeonmaster said that many Heroes are buried here.'

'We haven't passed any graveyards,' she said. 'Which is good. I think.' There was a distinct, uncomfortable pause before Sheila spoke again.

'I don't like this place,' she said. 'But I don't know why.'

'I don't either.' Hank smiled at her, pleased that she was confident enough to share her worries with him.

'It just feels as if something is watching us all the time. Haven't you noticed it?'

Hank shook his head.

'I haven't felt anything like that,' he said. 'But this city makes my skin crawl. There's something unnatural about it.'

Sheila took hold of his arm.

'I know this sounds silly, but I think something bad is going to happen,' she said.

With their track record, something bad was bound to happen! He looked at Sheila, knowing she was thinking the same thing.

'Hey, everyone,' he said, standing up. 'It's time to go.'

The other kids all stood up too, even Eric.

'Which way now, Hank?' asked Bobby.

The Ranger pointed to the road with the arch.

'That seemed to be the only road that leads in the direction we want to go.'

It was clearly a relief to everyone to be away from the headless statue and moving again.

Hank lead the way out of the square, with Sheila on one side and Bobby and Uni on the other. Together they walked out of the square, under one of the arches and back into the shadows of the dark street. Hank shivered.

Now he thought about it, there was an odd sort of feeling. He wouldn't have described it as being watched, but more like being part of something larger, something alive.

He turned to say as much to the Thief, but as he turned, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Or rather, he didn't!

He stopped instantly and whirled round.

The three other Young Ones, Diana, Presto and Eric: They weren't there!

* * *

'They've gone!' said Diana. She stared down the empty street in amazement and shock. Hank, Sheila and Bobby and Uni weren't there. That wasn't possible!

'That is a disappearing act worthy of Dungeonmaster!' said Eric.

'Where have they gone!' said Presto. 'I don't get it, they were there a moment ago!'

The Magician, the Acrobat and the Cavalier had all stopped just underneath an arch. The others were nowhere to be seen, there weren't even any footprints in the sand. Diana took a glance round at Presto and Eric, to reassure herself that they were still there and she wasn't just imagining this.

'They stepped through just in front of us,' said Diana, looking back down the empty street. 'They wouldn't have gone into a building, would they?'

'No,' said Presto. 'We need to get outta here as fast as we can! And besides, there wasn't enough time. They were just a few steps ahead of us! They were out of our line of sight for less than two seconds!'

'What's going on!' said Eric angrily. 'Hey Hank! Sheila! Quit messing around!'

His voice echoed down the street, but there was no answer.

'Hank!' called Presto. 'Bobby?'

The three of them stood for a moment, hoping that there would be an answer. When there wasn't, the Magician said:

'Well, what are we gonna do now?'

'You could try the Hat,' suggested Diana. 'You know, a summoning spell, a spell that would take us to them, or them to us.'

Presto took the Hat off his head without much enthusiasm, but didn't start a spell.

'What's wrong?' asked Eric.

'I don't think the Hat's gonna help,' he said with a sigh. 'Remember what Dungeonmaster said. This whole city is full of powerful magic, and it must have split us up for a reason. It's not going to let one little spell from me change it back!'

'You sure?' asked Eric. 'You have been getting better with it.'

Presto nodded.

'I'm certain. I've learned enough recently to know when to quit while I'm still standing!'

Eric nodded, and gave Presto a warm grin, possibly trying to reassure the Magician.

'That still leaves us with the problem of what to do now,' added Presto.

He looked round at Eric expecting an answer, and Diana did the same. It was odd that now, Eric seemed to have taken on the mantle of second in command without actually realising it, or anyone speaking about it. It had just happened. There had been a time when the though of putting the Cavalier in charge of anything more complicated than breakfast scared her more than Tiamat or Venger. But not any more.

As she looked at him that day in Kish, at that moment she realised she trusted him to do the right thing, and to get them safely through the danger.

She continued to stare at him, her mouth slightly open as if the sudden insight had paralysed her. Then she saw that Presto and Eric were looking right back at her.

'Um, sorry,' she muttered, her cheeks burning in embarrassment. 'But what _are_ we gonna do now?'

She looked up at Eric, and thankfully he took the cue and brought his attention back to the matter of their disappearing friends.

'Well, we're gonna have to find them,' he said, a slightly sarcastic tone to his voice. 'But this place seems to be playing tricks on us!'

Eric pointed down the street in front of them

'They've vanished into thin air with no evidence that they have every been here!' he said. 'And we've gotta assume that they are standing around somewhere thinking exactly the same about us!'

'We should look for them,' said Presto 'They'll be looking for us. I hope!'

'But they're not here,' insisted Eric, sounding much more anxious than he looked. 'If we stay to look around, we might lose the chance to get out. Remember what that crazy old man said, we've gotta stay on the safe path!'

'What about the others.'

'Hank will be saying exactly the same thing.'

There was short silence, then Diana forced herself to ask the next, obvious question, even though the Cavalier would certainly not appreciate it.

'But what if we're wrong? What if they are somewhere close by, needing our help?'

The Cavalier stared at her, then looked to the ground. He didn't answer immediately, but was quite for well over a minute. Diana didn't push him for an answer, and signalled to Presto to wait as well.

'I don't know what to say, Diana,' the Cavalier said at last. 'I don't know if this is the right call, or the right thing to do. I just don't know. But we have to do something, we can't just stand here and wait for everything to sort itself out. We could look around, hoping to find them but…'

The Cavalier didn't continue. Instead, he took a deep breath.

'We can look after ourselves,' he said firmly. 'And we've gotta believe that Hank and the others can do the same.'

Diana stared at him in surprise. The statement had the unmistakeable ring of sincerity, and the Cavalier clearly believed what he was say. Such a statement, from Eric, would have been unthinkable even a few months ago. When had Eric grown up? How had she missed _that_!

Even though she didn't completely agree with everything he had said, he clearly needed her support, as this couldn't have been an easy decision to make. Forcing him into an argument was not going to help anybody. It was his decision.

'Ok. So what now?'

Eric nodded slowly, then pointed down the street.

'We'll have to keep going this way.'

'And just hope we'll run into them?' asked Diana.

Eric didn't answer.

* * *

'That doesn't sound like good idea to me,' muttered Sheila. 'They've got to be around here somewhere!'

The Thief looked up at Hank with a worried expression on her face. He didn't like seeing her like that, but he was rapidly running out of ideas.

'We can't risk going to look. Remember what Dungeonmaster said, we'll be safe as long as we stay on the correct path. And I bet the three of them are standing somewhere saying exactly the same things.'

'Yes, but is this the correct path?' she said. 'I refuse to believe that we are just going to keep on walking and hope that we bump into the others!'

Hank shrugged. That was a pretty crude way of saying it, but it also summed up his plan. He didn't like it; he didn't like it one little bit but there seemed to be no other option. Magic had caused this somehow; they had only been out of the others' sight for a few seconds at most. It had to be magic. It had to be.

And it if was magic, then they had to keep going and get out of the city as fast as possible. Eric, Diana and Presto would hopefully do exactly the same!

'This city is controlling this, somehow,' he reminded her. 'It's playing games with us, just as Dungeonmaster warned us about. It's magic. I'm sure the others can look after themselves.'

Sheila looked extremely doubtful, but gave a grudging nod.

'Either way, I don't like this,' said the Thief. 'If the city itself is doing it, it must have a reason for splitting us up like this.'

Hank had thought of that as well, and the idea hadn't filled him with confidence. He shrugged again.

'Regardless of what's going on, we've gotta keep moving.'

'Do you think that's what the other three will do?' asked Bobby suddenly.

Hank paused for a moment, trying to guess what Eric and the others would be doing.

'I think…' he said, hoping that what he was going to say was right. 'I think they would just keep going.'

* * *

'This doesn't seem to be working, Eric,' said Presto.

Diana looked round to the Cavalier and saw an uneasy expression on his face, he clearly agreed with Presto's comment, but didn't have any reply. They had been walking down the narrow street for a good number of minutes, and nothing had happened, and there was no sign or clue to where the others were. Nothing at all, it was as if they had vanished into thin air.

'Are you still not willing to try the Hat?' the Cavalier asked.

'It's not going to work,' said Presto firmly.

'Well, then we don't have a lotta choice!'

'I've been wondering,' said Diana. 'Why?'

'Why? What _why_?' asked Eric.

'Why split us up?' she said. 'I mean, it doesn't really make much sense.'

'We're in the Realm,' said Eric with a sigh. 'When does anything we do make sense!'

While he did have a point, Diana didn't give up.

'Assuming that it is Kish itself that's doing this to us, it has to have a reason.'

'Diana, you're talking about a city! Cities don't _reason_!'

The Acrobat suddenly stopped.

'Remember what Dungeonmaster said.'

'How I wish I didn't!' replied Eric.

'I'm being serious,' snapped Diana. 'He said there was something evil here. Something that scared away the Rocs.'

'I hadn't forgotten about that, y'know,' said Eric pointedly.

'I don't like the way this is going!' said Presto.

'But Dungeonmaster didn't know what it was,' said Eric.

Diana nodded, the idea of what she was trying to explain suddenly crystallising in her mind.

'No, but what if Kish wants help to get rid of it!'

* * *

'But, Hank, you're still talking about a City!' insisted Sheila.

'I know, but…'

'Cities don't want anything!'

'But it makes sense!' insisted Hank. 'If it wants us to help it, what better way than to split us up and force us to look for our friends!'

'But we're not looking!' said Sheila. 'We're just standing around here arguing!'

There was a moment of tension between them, then suddenly Hank smiled. It was a crazy conversation!

'I don't know any more than you do,' he said. 'But there has to be some sort of reason this is happening.'

Sheila nodded slowly, as did Bobby. Even Uni joined in with the general agreement. But then the smile on Sheila's face faded.

'Assuming you're right,' she said. 'And Kish wants us to help… Do you think we have a choice?'

_Always choose_; that's what Dungeonmaster had told them. They always had a choice. He nodded.

'Then, whadda we choose?' asked the Barbarian. 'To help, or to find our friends?'

'Maybe both,' said Hank. 'If it is the city's doing, then they would both be the same thing.'

'Ok, then,' said the Thief. 'Let's get looking for them!'

Hank agreed, confident that they were on the right path.

Of course, the thought that there might be some other explanation, and some other force at work, didn't strike him until much later, when it was too late.

* * *


	3. Descent

Chapter 3

Descent

'I still say that there is no right way through Kish,' said the Magician with a sigh. 'I think that it's just making things up as we go along!'

Diana had to agree that Presto's explanation of their predicament was by far the most logical of the many that had been suggested over the past hour. And Presto seemed very attached to the idea as well.

Eric didn't say anything. The Cavalier had, for once, grown tired of the sound of his own voice, and didn't argue with the Magician. So it had been Presto and Diana herself that had mulled over the various options.

'But how?' she asked. 'And why? You can't really think that a city can _think_! Not in the same way we can.'

Presto shrugged.

'I don't know,' he said. 'But I can't see any other way of explaining it.'

Diana looked round warily at the buildings as they passed. Was this city really _thinking_? Was it watching them? Was it planning something?

The Acrobat shivered, in spite of the dry warmth of the air.

'The sooner we get out of this place the better,' she murmured.

As they walked on, for the first time in many minutes the road began to curve to the right, and then finally it branched into two.

Diana frowned and glanced at the others without speaking. From the look on Eric's face, there was no question of splitting up, so she followed him without question as he marched off down the right hand side. Presto did the same.

A few minutes later they came to a dead end. The three of them turned a corner and almost smacked straight into a stone wall!

It came as such a surprised that they stood there for a moment, just looking at it.

Eric, predictably, reacted first.

'Funny!' he said loudly, scowling at the surrounding walls. 'That's just hilarious! Always choose! You and Dungeonmaster are in league just to annoy us!'

'Eric!' said Diana. 'That's not helping!'

'It's helping me!' he snapped back.

'Maybe it's some sort of clue,' said Presto. 'A "dead end" could mean… um… oh!'

He looked round at the two others, and Diana scowled at him.

'This isn't Scooby Doo!' snarled Eric. 'We don't need clues, we need to get out of here. Preferably before something bad happens.' He turned round to look at the walls. 'Y'hear that! We just wanna get out of here!'

'Look!' said Presto. 'There's a carving on that wall. At the bottom.'

Eric muttered something unpleasant under his breath and rolled his eyes. But Presto was undeterred. He moved forward to get a closer look, and Diana followed.

Kneeling on the ground, the Magician cleaned away some of the dust and sand from the wall. He had been right, there was a carving.

'Well,' said Eric loudly, standing with his arms crossed. 'When you two decide to stop playing Mystery Inc, I'll be waiting over here.'

Diana didn't bother to reply. Neither did Presto. Suppressing the urge to giggle, Diana peered at the carving.

'What do you think it is?' she asked.

Presto shook his head.

'It looks like a procession of some sort,' he said. 'I suppose…'

The way he said it made Diana instantly worried.

'You_suppose_…? What else could it be if it wasn't a procession?'

'Well,' said Presto, 'it's just that this place was supposed to be a Necropolis. A city of the dead.'

'Oh,' whispered Diana.

'Well, it doesn't look like any funeral procession I've ever seen!' said Eric loudly.

Both Diana and Presto jumped. The Cavalier was standing right behind them, his hands on his hips, frowning down at the carvings.

'Eric! Stop doing that!' snapped Presto, wiping his forehead with the Hat. 'You're gonna give me a heart attack!'

'Besides, when have you ever seen a funeral procession?' said Diana smugly.

But the response she got for her little jibe was not what she had expected. Eric's face darkened, not in annoyance but in sorrow. She had never seen him look like that before. Just for a moment, he looked as though he was about to cry.

She would have said something, but the moment was broken by the Magician.

'More importantly' said Presto, a little too loudly, 'weren't you supposed to be _waiting_ over there? Hmm?'

Eric just gave a small shrug, his expression suddenly back to normal.

'I got bored, so sue me!'

Presto gave a small snort and turned back to the carving.

'I think this must be important,' he said seriously. 'Why else would the City have shown it too us.'

'I'm gonna say this again, even though I know you know what it is I'm gonna say,' said Eric. 'Cities don't think!'

Presto wasn't listening.

'It is a procession, people watching, and that could be a coffin.' He scrapped a bit at the wall.

'Terrific! Now we have coffins. This just gets better!'

'Eric!' said Diana. 'This is a Necropolis. Stop acting so surprised.'

'Do you think it's a warning?' said Presto. 'Y'know, about the thing that's driving away everyone away?'

'Everyone except us!' put in Eric.

'But if it is a warning,' said Diana warily, not liking the way this train of thought was going, 'then what does it mean?'

'A warning about death?' suggested Presto.

'That's not exactly a helpful suggestion,' snapped Eric. 'Do we really need a warning for that?'

'Well, no, I suppose not,' admitted the Magician.

'What else could they be?' asked Diana, peering at the carving. It was difficult to make out the details, but there was something about it that made her uncomfortable. It didn't look like a funeral procession, it looked as if they people were actually chasing the coffin away. And the people didn't really look much like real people either.

'Those don't look very much like people,' she said at last.

'No,' agreed Presto. 'No they look kinda like… um… like…'

Diana didn't like the way he hesitated.

'Like_ what_?' demanded Eric.

'The way they're drawn,' he said slowly, 'It's kinda like… well, it_ might_ mean that those things are… Undead.'

There was an unpleasant silence. They had heard about the Undead from some of the people they'd met in the Realm: Vampires, Mummies, Skeletons, Zombies; all variations on a theme. They had met some of them before, and it was an experience that Diana didn't wish to do again!

'We'd better hope that it's "might",' said Eric, with a heavy sigh. 'We really don't want to meet anything like that! Not while the others are missing.'

Presto's lip curled up in distaste, but he nodded.

'Oh, relax guys!' said Eric suddenly, and in his best sarcastic voice. 'The best way to deal with the Undead is to get away from them as fast as possible!'

'Or cremate them,' added Presto.

Eric sniggered, but it was a forced snigger, and suddenly made Diana very uncomfortable.

'I wonder if…' started Presto.

'Exactly,' interrupted Eric. 'Wondering. Thinking. That's what we're doing wrong! It's pure guesswork, Presto! And it's not helping!'

'And neither are you,' said the Magician. 'This could help us get out of here! Or warn us of what's ahead.'

'Or it could just be a nice carving,' replied Eric.

'Yeah,' said Presto with a touch of sarcasm. 'Yeah, it could. But I would like an explanation.'

The two boys stared at each other, and Eric looked away first.

'Ok,' he said. 'Maybe you have a point. But it's not going to do us any good just standing around here, is it.'

Presto gave a rueful nod.

'Good,' said Eric. 'So let's just get out of here! And stay out of the way of anything nasty. C'mon!'

He turned round and headed off the way they had come.

* * *

'Well,' said Hank slowly, 'I didn't think I'd ever see an end in this place!' 

'Me either,' said Bobby, and Uni added her bray as an echo of approval.

They stood at the stone wall, more surprised than anything else.

It was definitely an end, there was no way round and no other way out but back the way they had come. The wall itself seemed to be just blank, with no cracks or blemishes on it. It was just a flat block of stone that towered up high above their heads. There seemed to be no way to climb it. They would have to go back the way they came.

'Why would the city have led us here,' said Sheila. 'I suppose it would have to have a reason.'

Hank nodded uncertainly.

He reached out to touch the wall in front of them. Though it was made of sandstone, it felt much smoother than he'd expected, and warm to the touch.

_What could it be trying to tell us?_ Hank wondered, his hand still resting on the wall. _Is it trying to warn us? Or help us get out?_

Hank glanced round at the two others. Bobby had a look of bored disbelief on his face, Sheila just looked worried.

His hand dropped down to his side and he stared back at the wall. This was getting them nowhere.

'Is there anything written on it?' asked Sheila. 'Or a painting?'

Hank shook his head.

'Doesn't seem to be,' he said. 'Maybe we just came the wrong way.'

'But the City brought us here!' said Bobby.

'Meah!' echoed Uni.

'Yeah,' said Sheila.

This was getting them nowhere, fast! With a frown, Hank knelt down near the wall, and ran his hand over the wall, starting from the bottom and moving up. It was warm to the touch, and seemed warmer at the bottom than it had been higher up, and very smooth. Only the smallest flecks of sand brushed off on his hand. There seemed to be nothing underneath.

But as he moved his hand, he did sense slight variations in the surface, like soft bumps. He frowned.

'Maybe there was something here, once,' he said. 'Maybe it's been worn away.'

'That doesn't help us,' said Sheila.

'No,' agreed Hank. 'It doesn't. Well, there doesn't seem to be anything else here to help.'

The others nodded, and they turned and walked back the way they came.

* * *

Diana, Eric and Presto walked on through Kish as the city had slowly changed around them.

The buildings had stopped being ornate, and even looking like proper building! These looked more like giant, carved stones. They had no windows, or even doors that Diana could see. In fact, though she didn't like to admit it out loud, they were beginning to remind her of giant gravestones.

The two boys were talking together, but Diana was content just to listen and to think about what had happened.

'We're making good time,' said Eric.

'I hope the others are too,' said Presto.

'Hank will look after them. They'll be fine.'

'All we have to do is find them.'

'Relax, Presto, they can't have wandered off too far. They've gotta be around here somewhere!'

The Acrobat glanced across to Eric as he talked. He seemed worried, for all his calm and assured comments. It surprised her that she noticed! Since when had she learned so much about the Cavalier? Since when had she cared that much, either!

'This feels all wrong,' murmured Presto.

'I know, but we don't have a lotta choice,' said Eric with a sigh. 'Dungeonmaster told us it was dangerous in Kish, away from the safe path.'

'But what guarantee do we have that this _is_ the safe path,' insisted Presto.

'Look, do you have any better ideas?' snapped Eric suddenly. 'I'm doing the best I can over here!'

The Magician muttered an apology and looked appropriately chagrined, but Diana couldn't help grinning. That was the Cavalier they all knew and loved!

'Well, we are safe at the moment,' she said, feeling that Eric needed her support. 'Ok, we've managed to loose over half our party, but we're still doing ok.'

Eric turned to give her a smile, but the warm look suddenly changed into a full-scale scowl.

'You know what you've done,' he said crossly. 'This is your fault!'

'What are you…?'

Eric lifted his hand and pointed over her shoulder, and Diana turned to look.

What she saw made her blood run suddenly cold.

Not far away, there were large, shambling creatures that seemed to be growing out of the very walls of the city. It was difficult to make out exactly what they were, they were of a similar colour to the sandstone of the buildings, but Diana's instincts told her that they were not going to be friendly!

The images at the wall returned to her and she shivered. What if these were Undead creatures? And what kind?

'What are those things?' asked Presto, starting to back away down the street. 'Can you see.'

'I can't tell,' she replied.

Eric blankly stared at the creatures, his breath sounding short and shallow.

'I can,' he said quietly. 'Undead… Mummies.'

There was a moment's pause, as the three of them stood, frozen in surprise. Diana squinted, looking at the creatures, hoping Eric was wrong. But her in her heart she knew he was right. And there seemed to be a growing number of them!

'We could fight,' suggested Presto, waving his hand over his Hat. 'I mean, they're only Mummies, all we need is some…'

'No,' interrupted the Cavalier, in a scarily calm voice. He took hold of her arm and Diana started to pull away, but she glanced back. A cold knot formed in her stomach. Eric was right, the numbers were growing! They seemed to be much closer as well!

'We go with Plan B,' he said, his voice still with that same eerie calm.

'Plan B?' asked Presto.

'RUN!'

* * *

'Do you think they'll be ok?' Sheila asked him as they walked along. 

The Ranger thought for a moment, trying to decide if he aught to humour her. But she didn't seem overly anxious about their missing friends.

They were still trudging slowly through the narrow, dark streets of Kish, but fortunately, they seemed to be going the correct way, or at least a different way from before. The buildings had changed into huge monoliths of sandstone that didn't feel like real buildings at all.

'I'm sure they'll be ok,' Hank said after a pause.

'You really think so?' added Bobby with a grin. 'You know what Eric's like!'

The Barbarian sniggered, and Uni joined in as well. Hank gave the young boy a slight smile, but still nodded.

'They'll be ok,' he said calmly.

The Thief gave Bobby a proper big sister _look_, for being rude about someone behind their back, but she didn't press the matter. Maybe she thought the same as her brother as she hadn't had much of a high opinion of Eric's leadership skills before, but it was more likely that she was just worried.

It surprised Hank that he wasn't more worried about the others, but it wasn't like they had never split up before, even if this time it wasn't voluntary! Over the past few weeks, maybe the past few months, since the trip to the disaster with the Box of Balefire and their impromptu trip to the Underworld, Eric had slowly changed. He'd changed before, it was true, even then he seemed to be a different person from the one who's arrived in the Realm, but he'd grown up since the Underworld and become someone that they could actually rely on.

The thought made Hank smile. He'd never expected to be able to rely on Eric. Ever!

A few minutes later, the road began to curve again, this time much more sharply. Hank slowed his step, feeling nervous. This city seemed to have a much better idea of what was going on than he did, and that was a feeling he didn't like.

Ahead, down the street was a much larger building. It looked like a Pyramid, judging by the top, but he couldn't see the sides.

They ground to a halt.

'Um, correct me if I'm wrong,' said Sheila slowly, looking up at the structure, 'but I don't remember seeing anything this tall when we stood by the Entrance Stone to Kish.'

Hank looked upwards at the Pyramid as well and nodded, though he wished he didn't have to. There hadn't been anything like that; and they would have seen this Pyramid! It was huge!

'Um,' said Sheila, her voice much quieter now. 'Um, that's not good, is it!'

'No.'

'Meah!' echoed Uni, looking anxiously up at them. Bobby tried to reassure the scared Unicorn by patting her head, but that didn't seem to work. Uni hung her head, looking miserable.

'Disappearing friends, strange roads, bizarre buildings! I wonder what else we'll find in Kish,' said Sheila.

'Hopefully, nothing,' said Hank.

'Or Mummies,' said Bobby calmly.

At first, Hank thought the Barbarian was joking, but as he looked round to add something clever as a comeback, he saw Bobby pointed down the street behind them.

There were tall, humanoid creatures shuffling along to wards them, their arms outstretched. They were, unfortunately, close enough to see exactly what they were. Bobby was right; the creatures were Mummies! And there were lots of them!

Hank took one look and didn't hesitate.

'Run!!'

* * *

'Mummies,' muttered Presto. 'Of… course… Mummies. We're in a Necropolis, that would be… the most sensible explanation.' 

They were running, and it surprised Diana that the Magician could find enough breath to talk to himself!

'It's so… obvious! Shoulda… known.'

Diana glanced back. It was obvious to her! What did Presto know that she didn't?

'What do you mean?' she asked.

'Picture… was a… clue,' he replied. 'Shoulda seen… it coming!'

She looked at the Magician, seeing the sweat on his face, and smiled. It would be cruel to ask for an explanation right now!

'So where… are… we going?' panted Presto.

The warning of Dungeonmaster was loud in Diana's head, as the Cavalier answered.

'We… have to… stay on the… safe… path,' gasped Eric.

They had started off jogging, and the Mummies had seemed to be unable to keep up, but every time they tried to stop of a rest they just kept on appearing relentlessly. The extended run hadn't bothered Diana, but the two boys were obviously suffering, and they hadn't been able to catch their breath for the last twenty minutes. While they were used to the exercise by now, it was harder work than they were used to!

'Look!' cried Presto suddenly. 'Look… at that!'

Diana's eyes went wide in amazement, ahead loomed a huge structure, and it looked like a pyramid.

'I didn't see a Pyramid before!' Diana said.

'Me… neither,' replied Eric between gasps.

Diana frowned. Somehow the sudden appearance of a giant Pyramid didn't make her feel any better. Didn't they have enough to contend with without large buildings materialising out of nowhere?

In spite of the following Mummies, Diana slowed to a halt. Both Presto and Eric followed her example without any questions. They stood together, breathless, and Presto leaned against a wall as Eric doubled over, gasping for breath. Diana glanced back. the Mummies were a fair way behind. They could grab a moment's rest and still be ok.

'I don't think we should be going this way,' she said.

'Why… not?' asked Eric.

She was at a loss to explain what she meant, so she smiled at Eric and shrugged.

'That's… it?' He stared at her in surprise.

Diana nodded again.

'That's not what… you'd say to convince… Hank!' he replied.

But instead of arguing some more, the Cavalier cast a confused look at Diana then took a glance behind. The group of Mummies were getting closer.

'Regardless of what… you think… we don't seem to have… a lotta choice!'

The Pyramid loomed ahead, and just looking at it made Diana nervous. Things that suddenly appeared out of nowhere were never good!

'Just a moment more,' said Presto pleadingly. He leaned back against one of the walls, and closed his eyes, still out of breath. Pulling the Hat off his head he wiped his forehead with his sleeve. 'I'm exhausted!'

She glanced back to the Mummies. They were definitely getting closer. Waiting any longer was probably a bad plan. They had to keep moving.

She was just about to say something when there was a cry from behind her.

To her horror, Presto was struggling against the wall. Old, bandaged covered hands pushed their way out of the sandstone, and had grabbed him by the shoulders. One arm had already disappeared. He couldn't get free.

Eric took hold of the Magician's other arm, and was pulling as hard as he could. As he struggled to get a good hold, Presto cried out in pain.

'Diana! Help me!' said the Cavalier desperately. 'Hold on, Presto! Hold on!'

The Acrobat grabbed the free arm and pulled as well, but Presto just cried out even more.

Seeing the Magician's face screwed up in pain like that struck fear into her heart. She knew suddenly that they weren't going to be able to pull him free. She looked to Eric, and his expression told her that he was thinking exactly the same thing.

Presto cried out again and was sharply tugged backwards.

'Hold on!' said Eric desperately. 'For God's sake Presto hold on!'

After another tug, Presto seemed to be half way into the wall. The back of his head had disappeared and most of his side. Another set of hands appeared and grabbed his left leg.

'Help me!' cried the Magician. 'I can't get to the Hat!'

'We're pulling him apart!' said Diana. 'Eric what are we gonna do!'

But Eric wasn't listening to her; he was looking in horror down the street behind them. And Diana suddenly realised what he was staring at. She whipped round. The Mummies were even closer, only a few seconds away, their hands outstretched to grab at them.

She could see the mottled, dead flesh, and the disintegrating bandages that wrapped them up. The stench of rotting meat filled the air and she fought to keep from being sick. Diana and Eric both stared at the Magician. He was half pulled into the sandstone of the wall, one side of him had already gone.

'Run,' gasped Presto.

Eric looked at his friend, unable to say anything.

'Please,' he whispered, looking directly at the Cavalier.

Diana watched as Eric shuddered, indecision written all over his face. A moment later, Eric grabbed her hand and pulled her away.

But they were a fraction too late.

The closest of the Mummies attacked, catching both Diana and Eric by surprise. In spite of that, Eric still managed to get the Shield round fast enough to deflect the blow away from Diana.

Unfortunately, he slipped as it struck and the Mummy's hand swipe at his leg and Eric cried out in pain.

Diana could see blood on the Mummy's claws. Without hesitating, she swung her Javelin round and it smacked into the creature, knocking it away from Eric.

Then she pulled him to his feet and ran.

* * *

'Keep running!' 

'Look out Bobby!'

Hank took a despairing glance round behind them.

The street behind them was filled with animated corpses, and the stink of them wafted down towards them. Ahead was the Pyramid, and it seemed to be getting closer, but it was hard to tell, it kept disappearing from view. He was starting to get confused, it was hard enough to concentrate on where they were going without the extra added problem of the being chased.

The Mummies didn't stop. Nothing had worked, firing arrows, knocking down walls. Every time they thought they had stopped them, more kept appearing, melting out of the walls. They were relentless.

_Why were there Mummies here?_ he wondered.

Hank shrugged. But he could remember what Dungeonmaster had said about Kish, that it was a Necropolis, and that inside the city there were many Realm heroes buried. He glanced round again. Were these the Undead forms of Realm heroes? If they were, why were they not "at rest" as Dungeonmaster had said they were? What had disturbed them? And why?

He had no chance to talk to either Bobby or Sheila about it, as they were too busy running. And as he ran, he couldn't help thinking about the others, and hoping that they were ok.

'Hank? Hank!'

He looked round sharply to see Sheila pointing at something, the Pyramid appeared to their left, down a small alleyway, and he realised they were extremely close to it.

He made a split second decision to change their course, hoping to loose the Mummies, or at least buy them a little more time.

The others followed, but the trick didn't seem to work. If anything, it seemed to bring the Mummies closer to them.

'Hank!' cried Sheila desperately. 'What are we gonna do? Hank?'

Before the Ranger could answer there was another cry, this time from Bobby. A moment later Hank could see why! Just ahead the street just vanished!

He skidded to a halt.

'HANK!'

* * *

Eric didn't say a word. He couldn't. 

He was limping badly, and much slower, in spite of the help from Diana. He was pale, in spite of the frantic run and Diana knew why. She had seen his heart almost break in leaving Presto behind like that.

The rest of the Mummies weren't far behind them. And they were gaining ground. The moment of confusion as the two of them had broken free bought them a few seconds of a head start, but that wasn't going to last long.

Ahead, they could see the end of the road.

And it was a literal end; the road wasn't a dead end with a blank wall to stop them but there was a section missing from the road, as if a hand had scooped it out of the ground. There was no other way across other than to jump.

Diana heard Eric stifle a cry as he saw it, and he stumbled to a stop.

He turned to look at her, directly in the eye and she felt her heart twist. She knew what he was going to say.

'Your turn,' he gasped.

She looked him in the eye, part of her not believing what she was hearing, and part of her not wanting to believe it. She knew what he wanted her to do. She had only a few seconds to make the decision before all chance of escape was gone.

'Now!'

Eric: Was this the same arrogant, selfish, self-centred, annoying boy she had known so long ago at school?

She opened her mouth to argue, but he had clearly been expecting something like that. He ducked down and gave her a shove forward.

'No time,' he hissed.

Then he lifted the Shield as the first of the Mummies clattered into it. She saw him shake under the strain.

'Go,' he said. 'Please.'

The throng of Mummies pushed forward, their rotten, bandaged arms trying to break through the power of the Shield. The Cavalier sank to his knees.

She almost stepped forward to help him, but at the very last moment, he turned to look at her, and the pleading expression in his eyes stopped her in her tracks. Then suddenly, he seemed to be overwhelmed.

Eric was gone.

A fraction of a second later, she was running towards the gap, the Javelin extended in her hand.

She didn't look back, there was no way she could bear to look and see what had happened. And there was the noise of pursuit.

She had no choice.

Though Diana was fast, as fast as she could be, the toll of the events of the day were beginning to show.

As she leaped over the inky blackness of the gulf, aiming for the far side of the chasm she felt a jolt from the other end of the Javelin.

And she felt herself falling.

* * *


	4. Collision

Chapter 4

Collision

She could feel the air rush past her, tangling her hair and whistling in her ears. The great rift in the ground before her was like the hole in her heart after Kosar had left her, the vast nothingness of loss and isolation she had felt at that moment, when he had gone without her. It was dark below, so dark and lonely and empty. And there was no one there to catch her.

_She was falling, and there was nothing to stop her._

_Falling._

_Falling._

Falling!

Diana suddenly jerked awake with a gasp.

In spite of the throbbing pain in her head and feeling sick, Diana forced open her eyes.

Everything seemed to be black, and for a moment she panicked, thinking something had happened to her eyes. She raised her hand to her face, and felt the sticky wetness of blood on her forehead.

What had happened? Why did she feel so terrible?

She looked round, but it was dark, except for a greyish light directly above her that seemed to lurch every time she blinked. As the Acrobat gazed up, there was a sudden flash of memory.

_The disappearance of Hank and Sheila, Bobby and Uni; Presto being pulled into the wall._

And Eric.

Her chest tightened as she thought of the Cavalier overwhelmed by advancing Mummies, and the vivid memory of the look in his eye, willing her to leave without him. The images almost suffocated her.

_Oh God, what had happened to him? To all of them? _And what had happened to her? Where was she?

The Javelin, in its collapsed form, was still in her hand and it gave off a very faint glow as she lifted it up. It wasn't so much of a rift, or a cave, but more like another road, a much older road, buried deep under the ground, though she had no idea why it was there. Above there was the faint light of the sky, and she was sure she could see stars.

She moved slightly, feeling an unwelcome ache all over her body. But though she hurt, and was probably covered in bruises and cuts, nothing seemed to be broken or strained. Her natural agility had saved her from the worst injuries.

There was a tiny voice in her head whispering questions: How long had she been down here? And what was she going to do? Alone, with a long climb out of the rift ahead of her, she couldn't even start to answer those questions.

The only thing she was sure about was that she had to get out of here, and find help, just as Eric had told her too.

Again, she though back to the last time she had seen him, injured but with his Shield raised high to protect her. For some reason, the thought of him like that made her feel even worse until, overwhelmed with emotion, she closed her eyes and began to cry.

Tears silently poured down her cheeks. It was hard to believe she was crying, about Eric of all people!

She had looked back, just once, seeing the blue and yellow of his armour and the flashing light of his Shield. For a moment, he had stood there, fending off Mummies, and then he was gone, overwhelmed. Her imagination took over, seeing Eric attacked and hurt by the horde of corpses. Her stomach gave a sickening lurch at the next thought, those disgusting things could easily have pulled him apart.

She shuddered, forcing the wave of nausea down.

Her escape hadn't been easy, and she knew with certainty that if she'd stayed to help Eric neither of them would have stood a chance. Even so, with Eric defending her, it was a very close thing. She shivered once again, thinking of those grabbing dusty hands, the stench of rotting fabric, and rotting breath.

Her head dropped forward, and she rested her aching forehead in the palms of her hands, tears still flowing down her cheeks. What if she was too late, and there was nothing left to save? What if he was gone too, like Kosar? What if they were all gone? What if she was alone?

The though lingered in her mind for a moment: _What if she really was alone_? What if...

No!

_No!_ She couldn't think that! She wasn't going to give up! She was NOT going to give up!

Diana sniffed, looking back up to the stars again, a strange cold aching feeling filling her heart. Why was she crying? It was stupid to cry, now of all times. She had to find the others and get help.

The voice in the back of her head spoke again; what if she was the only one left?

_No_! Eric and Presto were still ok, she had to believe that. Hank and the others were out there too, though she didn't; know where, she did know they were there, somewhere.

The Acrobat took a long, slow breath in, trying to focus on what she had to do. What would the other think of her, sitting here crying? She had to pull herself together and get help.

_What about Hank and the others_? For a moment, a tiny smile crossed her face as she thought about them. Sheila would be fine, no doubt, able to duck away out of trouble at a moments notice. Hank would be as well. In fact, the others probably hadn't even met any Mummies. That would just be typical!

They would probably be searching for them, wondering what sort of trouble Eric had lead them into!

Diana's tiny smile grew wider as she imaged what choice words Eric would have to say to Hank for wandering off without them! She would love to see that little confrontation!

As she smiled more widely, another though occurred to her. Why hadn't the Mummies come for her as well? It wouldn't have been hard for them to clamber down here, even if they were the Undead. Why had they just left her?

There was only one way she was going to find any of the answers. She pulled herself to her feet, feeling a sore and more than a little dizzy, and she started to climb.

It didn't take her as long as she'd feared to get out of the hole, the wall was rough and had plenty of hand holds. At the top, she paused and looked around very carefully. But there was nothing to be seen anywhere. No Mummies; but no friends either.

Night had definitely fallen, as the stars were clear above her. But there was light in the city as well, as there were torches of greenish flame dotted around the street, giving off an eerie, sickly glow.

She moved forward slowly, keeping a sharp look out for anything unusual, but there was nothing, it was if the place was dead. That was not a reassuring thought.

A first she could see nothing but crumbling sandstone buildings, every way she looked there were great walls of brick. It all looked the same, and there was no way to tell where she was. How was she supposed to find the others when she had no idea where to start looking?

Dungeonmaster's words whispered in the back of her mind: _Always choose_. Was it really as simple as that? Was that all it was going to take? She looked warily around at the buildings beside her. _Always choose_.

She didn't have any other, better idea so, keeping the thought of the others in the front of her mind, she walked on.

As she walked, she though about her missing friends. She wished Hank was here with her, as he always seemed to know what to do. He would have any number of ideas about how to find the others, and he would be better able to defend himself against those Mummies as well!

But more than that, she wished Eric was there beside her. The thought surprised her. She had never expected to actually _miss_ him, but she did. She missed his sarcasm and his unfailingly bad attempts at humour. But more importantly, she missed the way he made her feel when he was around, he helped her feel strong and needed within the group, like Hank did but in a different way, a way she couldn't really explain.

She knew this was probably hopeless. The chances of finding Hank and the others were lessening every minute. Other than following Dungeonmaster's "advice" she had no idea what she was going to do, or where she was going to find the rest of her friends.

Diana kept on going, creeping quietly through the dusty streets of Kish.

She tried to keep calm, but it was getting harder all the time, and she knew she was starting to panic. She knew that Eric would have laughed at her, and actually, she could have done with the reassurance at that moment. Eric knew how to help her feel better, even if he didn't know he knew!

At last, the road slanted downwards again, but that fact didn't help her to feel better about her situation. If anything she was feeling more nervous than she had when she had some round. She felt so exposed and vulnerable, as if Mummies were watching her every move and were ready to materialise out of the buildings behind her.

But none did.

Every so often, peeping out between the houses, was the giant Pyramid. She had considered going towards it, but each time she tried she just seemed to get further away! Like a massive stone Jack-in-the-box, it would appear suddenly at the corner of her eye, making her start.

She had quickly grown to hate its looming presence. It felt like the building was watching her, testing her, and waiting to see what she did next.

Finally, after a particularly big surprise appearance, she couldn't stand it any longer. Whirling round to face the Pyramid, she scowled at it.

'Ok!' she said aloud, placing her hands on her hips and glaring defiantly at it,' Ok, you win, you have my attention!'

There was only the whisper of moving sand in reply, but she suddenly smiled, imagining what Eric would have to say to her if he knew she had started talking to buildings! He would never let her hear the end of that one.

'Well, let's just see what you want from me!' she said.

Though she was still unsure and still afraid, the thought of the Cavalier and his quips and his sarcastic expression gave her that little bit of a push and she started down the street towards the Pyramid, her head held high.

The street was much, much shorter than she had anticipated, judging by the distances and buildings. She had expected to walk for a number of minutes, but the Pyramid loomed high on the horizon and all the other buildings petered out. After only a minute of walking, the Acrobat found herself at the edge of the Pyramid's plateau, a huge, wide, empty space in which the structure itself sat smugly in the centre.

But Diana didn't have too much time to enjoy the open, free space which was so welcome after walking around in the maze of streets.

There were Mummies everywhere.

Her reactions were still primed ready for trouble, so she was fast enough to duck into the shadows beside the wall, and none of them seemed to notice she was there.

It took a few moment for her to gather her courage and look round again.

The Pyramid was a beautiful sight, huge, high, almost the highest thing she could remember seeing up so close. It was made of smooth, yellow sandstone, and rose up out of the ground at a perfect angle. She looked up at its top, where there was a shining white stone at the very top, that seemed to be filled with a light of its own, casting dark shadows and drowning out the faint light of the stars in the sky behind it.

At ground level, Mummies were trudging past the edge, but were all moving in one particular direction. Though she couldn't be absolutely sure, they all seemed to be going into the Pyramid, maybe though an entrance on the far side, where she couldn't see it.

She crouched down to the ground, watching the creatures carefully, trying to decide what her next move should be.

It seemed obvious on the face of it; the Mummies were going into the Pyramid, and it was likely that that was where they had taken Eric and the others.

The trick was going to be getting in there without being seen!

There was a sudden stomping noise from close by, from one of the streets that led to the Pyramid. Diana knew without looking round what had caused the noise, and she had no choice but to freeze, and hope that they didn't see her.

Sure enough, less than five seconds later a line of Mummies appeared, less that fifteen feet away, all heading to the Pyramid!

Diana hardly dared to breathe. She was in very deep trouble; and if they saw her she would be in even _worse_ trouble!

Minutes passed, and she was still in exactly the same position that she had been in. Her legs had begun to ache and her knees, but the Mummies still marched on by oblivious to her presence.

She watched them, all the time hoping that this would end soon, and she could stand up and stretch her sore muscles.

The number of Mummies seemed to lessen, and instead of being bunched together, they marched in single file. Diana began to count them, trying to keep her mind off the growing pain.

The numbers grew less again, as she passed one hundred, but it wasn't lessening nearly fast enough for her! The number petered out, and it seemed that they had at last reached the end.

The relief was overwhelming, but she had to force herself to remember that she could still be seen, all it would take was one look in her direction and it was over!

Her hand tightened into a fist as she tried to keep control, the red-hot ache in her legs filling her mind.

And then, from the other side of the plateau, in the dark gloom of the shadows she saw the tiniest glint of gold. It was only for a second, but she stared at the point where it had been.

That was impossible.

It looked like… well, it had looked like Hank!

But that was impossible! _Wasn't it?_

But even though her rational mind was thinking of reasons that that fleeting image couldn't have been the Ranger, in her heart she knew that it was.

That had been Hank! That had been _Hank_!

She had to stop herself sprinting forward to see. This was not a good time to go sprinting anywhere. She had to think. She had to think carefully.

The line of Mummies was still moving forward again, each lumbering along in their own unique way, and Diana froze. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, knowing that if the creatures spotted her she wouldn't have any chance. She had no escape route planned, she had no other way out.

A few seconds later she opened them slowly. The Mummies were a few feet further ahead, none of them had noticed her. She watched for a few more seconds, never blinking not even daring to breath. But the Mummies just kept on going.

One by one they lumbered out of view, round the corner and into the Pyramid.

Even after they had gone, she didn't dare move. She waited for a few seconds, her body still tensed and ready for action. But there was no need. She was alone.

Except…

She looked up, back towards the place where she had seen Hank, or though she had seen him. If it had been the Ranger, he wouldn't know that the coast was clear.

Diana was standing in a moment, though her calves were unpleasantly stiff from the kneeling and her legs felt like jelly. Still wary, she moved along the road to the alleyway where she thought she had seen Hank, and peeked round.

The first thing she saw was a bright golden arrow pointed directly at her head!

For all her anticipation, the Acrobat was so surprised that she was unable to move for a momnet. She heard a sharp intake of breath.

'Diana!'

The bright, overpowering light of the arrow vanished and she could see her friend clearly. She darted forward to his side, not resisting the urge to embrace him in a warm hug.

It was one of the best moments of her life. Hank was there, just when she needed him!

From somewhere behind there was a quite whine, and Diana started slightly.

'It's ok, It's only Uni,' Hank whispered.

Diana released the Ranger and looked into the shadows. Sure enough, the little Unicorn was standing there looking incredibly happy to see her. She reached forward and ruffled Uni's mane, something she didn't normally do. Uni whinnied and rubbed against her hand.

'Are you ok?' Hank asked her. 'You look…'

Diana glanced down at herself, as if for the first time noticing the dust and sweat, and the cuts and scratches. And then there was the cut on her head as well. She reached up to touch it, nervously, but it seemed to have stopped bleeding for the moment.

'I'm ok,' she said in a whisper. 'I fell when we were attacked.' A sudden, painful image of the Cavalier flashed unwanted in front of her eyes; _seeing him like that, injured and standing up to those hideous creatures alone… _No!

'I'm ok,' she said again, as the concerned expression on Hank's face hadn't changed. 'What happened to you? Why did you wander off like that!'

'I was about to ask you the same thing!'

They looked at each other.

'It was magic, wasn't it, just like Presto said.'

'It must have been,' said Hank. 'But I don't know why.'

Diana gave a sigh and sat down beside him in the sand, suddenly so grateful for the chance to rest.

'I don't know why either. We though it was the City, wanting help,' she looked up and saw Hank nod his agreement, 'but after meeting those Mummies, I'm not so sure!'

'It had to be the City, wanting help,' said Hank thoughtfully, 'because there is nothing else it could be.'

There was silence for a minute, as that statement seemed to sit uneasily with both of them. Finally, Diana said:

'Well, I suppose it didn't have to be… I mean, there is definitely something else around here.'

'A _something_ that could chase away birds like the Rocs,' said Hank slowly. 'I don't like where this is going…'

'Neither do I!' admitted Diana. 'But if it wasn't the City, I suppose it must have been the big bad nasty thing that we were supposed to avoid, the same thing that's been controlling the Mummies.'

Hank gave a long sigh and nodded.

'It seems quite obvious, now.'

Diana saw the dejected and angry look on the Ranger's face and she laid a hand on his arm.

'I didn't think of it before, either,' she said, hoping that would help.

'I think our problems just multiplied,' said Hank. 'If it was the Mummies' Master, then it split us up to try and capture us.'

'And it succeeded! Four down and three to go!'

Hank nodded slowly.

'But why only four of us,' he said thoughtfully. 'Why hasn't it come after the ones it missed? I mean, we're fairly easy targets.'

The Acrobat could only shrug. She had wondered about that question too!

'How did you escape?' asked Hank suddenly. 'What happened?'

Once again, an image of that moment returned to Diana and she almost winced.

'We were running,' she said, 'and stopped to rest for a moment. Some grabbed Presto and pulled him into the wall.' She saw Hank recoil at the thought. 'Eric and I couldn't get to him in time, we tried but it took too long. Eric was injured and couldn't run well. They were catching up and we were trapped on the wrong side of a hole in the road. Eric…'

She stopped, unable to continue. Telling the story like that was too painful, who would have ever believed that Eric could be so heroic!

Hank squeezed her hand gently.

'He told me to run, to jump over the rift,' she murmured. 'And I did. But instead of reaching the other side, I fell. I don't remember anything else.'

'We were cornered by them too,' he said. 'They ran us down, and even though Sheila tried to slip past them using her Cloak, it didn't work.' Again, when he said the Thief's name, his voice wavered. 'I was fighting them off, but there were too many of them. The arrows didn't do more that slow them down! I tripped and landed beside Uni, and I could see there was no hope of getting out, Sheila and Bobby were already being hauled off.' Hank looked to the ground, and seemed to be angry and ashamed. 'Uni teleported me away.'

The admission of having to run off and escape while leaving his friends (especially _Sheila_) behind was a hard one for Hank, she could tell from the expression on his face. She had never seen him quite like that before, it seemed as though he was clamping down on his emotions so tightly that all it would take was one tiny push and it would all explode out. She knew that things between him and Sheila had taken a "serious" turn (it had been so obvious that there was something going on between those two), and she couldn't imagine what he must be feeling at the moment. She cared about her friends, all of them, very deeply; but she didn't actually _love_ any of them. Not in the way Hank loved Sheila.

'You did the right thing,' she said softly. 'Both of you did. Now, together, we've got a chance of helping them.'

Hank nodded, though even that small action seemed like a very great effort.

'We don't know where they have been taken,' he pointed out. 'I would think that the Mummies would have taken them into the Pyramid, but we don't actually _know_ that!'

Indecision was written all over his face.

'We've both been led here,' Diana said. 'All the Mummies are inside that thing, and I think our friends are there too!'

'But what if they're not,' said Hank.

His attitude confused the Acrobat, it wasn't like Hank to be so negative and so hesitant.

'I don't know, Hank,' she admitted, 'but we're not going to know unless we take a look and find out!'

Again, there was a flash in fear and confusion on the Ranger's face. But it vanished in a moment, and he looked up at her and smiled.

'You're right,' he said. 'I know you're right. We've got to take a look.'

Diana smiled back, and pushed herself standing once more.

'I think they will be in there,' she said. 'It seems like the best place to take them, if you're a Mummy.'

She glanced to Hank. Though he was smiling, there was still a hint of worry about him. No doubt he was thinking along the same lines as she was; that if their friends were in there, then the Mummies' Master was in there too! And all the Mummies! And they had no idea what they were dealing with, or who they were up against.

Carefully, she looked round at the plateau, to check to see if it was still empty. Nothing moved, not even the wind and the light dusting of sand was as still as if it had been glued onto the ground.

Hank was at he elbow, and Uni by her leg, and the Ranger signalled that they should move forward, down the opposite side to where Diana had come from, to try and find the entranceway in.

They walked as softly as they could. Without nearby buildings to absorb the sound, every footstep seemed to Diana to be like a deafening thump. Even Uni's dainty hooves made a loud noise.

But they kept going, always alert and on their guard, and nothing stopped them.

They moved to the base of the Pyramid, and then along, towards a dark shadow in middle of the side; what she hoped would be an entrance in.

Fortunately, it was and the three of them stopped by the side of it, and listened. There seemed to be no one there. Hank leaned forward to look, and after a moment, so did Diana.

The interior wasn't quite what she had expected. She had seen books on the Egyptian Pyramid, and knew they were built of solid stone, with a few narrow passages.

This was completely the opposite, there was a vast space inside, carefully sculptured and carved all the way up to the roof, which was very, very high up!

But, though they could see up to the roof, they couldn't see what was directly ahead. Something was in their way, but Diana couldn't be sure exactly what it was. Behind it, there came an eerie, greenish glow, similar to the light from the torches outside, but a much brighter, casting deep shadows that obscured the details of where they were.

She and Hank exchanged glances, then crept forward as quietly and carefully as they could, with Uni following just behind.

They went inside. Diana had been worried that they might be making too much noise, but as they went further, they heard movement from behind whatever was blocking their way.

As they came up to it, Diana realised it was a great big wooden wall. It seemed an odd place for a wall to be, but it was very effective in blocking the way forward.

Wary of talking openly for fear of being heard, Diana signalled to the Ranger that she would climb up and take a look. Hank agreed.

The wooden barrier seemed to be very think, but it was roughly hewn, and so relatively easy to climb, even without her Javelin.She climbed up in less than a minute, taking no chances with her foot and hand holds, and peeped over the top very slowly.

Behind the wall was a great arena, a wide, open space under a vaulted ceiling. And Mummies. Lots of Mummies.

But the details were unimportant, as the first thing she noticed were her friends.

Sheila. Presto, Bobby. Eric. They were lying on the ground, still, as if they were dead.

Her breath caught in the back of her throat and she almost lost her hand-hold and slipped.

_Dead_?

No.

No, they couldn't be dead.

She had to believe they were ok.

Below, Diana was aware that Hank was waiting and he would be getting worried, so instead of looking more, she clambered gently down to the ground, wincing as her muscles strained under the effort. Somehow the descent was much more difficult than it had been going up.

'I saw the others,' she said to Hank in as quiet a voice as she could, leaning against him to whisper in his ear. She hoped he didn't feel her shaking.

'They were there? Were they ok?' he whispered back.

She couldn't lie to him, he needed to know, and she could only hope that he believed that they were ok as well.

'They were just, sorta… lying there.'

The image of the others lying in a line like pieces of meat made her shudder, and she closed her eyes.

Hank put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently.

'They'll be ok, if we can get to them in time!' he told her.

She looked round at him.

'How do you know that! They weren't moving! They looked…' she couldn't even bring herself to say the word! If she didn't have to say it, she could still believe that they were ok.

The Ranger tightened his grip on her shoulder.

'I don't know that much about Mummies,' said Hank, 'but if they want someone dead, they don't drag them around, they dismembered them there and then. They must be still alive.'

It was much of a comfort, but still, Diana breathed a sigh of relief.

_They were still alive_.

'But we have to get them out of there,' said Hank. 'And quickly too. As fast as we can.'

'Why?' she asked, suddenly afraid again at the tone of Hank's whispered voice.

'Those Mummies need them for something, that's for sure. And whatever that is, it isn't good!'

She looked into Hank's eyes, staring levelly at him.

'What do you mean?' she said, though she knew the answer he was going to give.

'Mummies are Undead,' he said. 'Presto, Eric, Bobby and Sheila… aren't.' His voice wavered as he said the Thief's name.

But the implication was clear.

If the two of them didn't do something soon, the others would be Undead as well!

'What else did you see?' whispered Hank.

Diana struggled with the answer as the details of the Pyramid's interior had been swamped by the sight of her friends. She closed her eyes, trying had to remember.

'It was big, and round, like a cave,' she replied. 'With lots of Mummies. There was a table at the front, maybe two. And lots of statues as well.'

Hank frowned, and nodded slowly as if thinking.

Suddenly the silence was broken by the deafening sound of grinding stone. Wincing at the noise, the two friends looked at each other, and Uni looked between them nervously.

_We've gotta find out what's going on,_ thought Diana. Hank must have been thinking the same thing, as he glanced upwards.

Diana nodded and started to climb.

Hank climbed up just beside her, but the unicorn stayed on the ground, waiting for them with a forlorn expression on her face.

The Acrobat could feel the vibrations of moving stone through the wall, making it more difficult to climb. She tried not to think about what sort of event could make such a noise.

She saw the details more clearly this time. There were a great number of Mummies, standing like a silence army of bandaged statues. They were all facing forward toward the table at the front, and Diana suddenly realised that it wasn't a table. It was an Altar!

Even worse, the other table she had thought she had seen wasn't a table either. It was a Sarcophagus.

And it was open!

Diana's breath caught in her throat as she stared at the scene in front of her.

The occupant of the Sarcophagus was clearly Undead as well, it had the same rough outline as a Mummy, and a few bandages. But it was still dressed in clothes as well, though some of the material had decayed away.

Mummies never wore any adornment; they didn't think like that and always pulled it off, since they were virtually mindless zombies. The only thing that she knew of that was Undead and wore clothes wasn't a Mummy, it was a Lich!

Liches were nasty, evil creatures with a very high intelligence (quite the opposite from the shuffling thoughtless Mummies) and could use powerful magic.

The creature in the sarcophagus shifted slightly, and Diana caught a glint of gold from something she hadn't seen. On the creature's head was a golden crown, and it was that more than anything else that made the Acrobat suddenly much, much more afraid.

This Lich was wearing a crown. It was a King! She didn't know if it was just a King when it was alive or if it was actually a King of Liches. But either way, that was not good!

Beside her, she heard Hank give a sharp gasp, and knew he must be thinking exactly the same as she was. She looked round at him with the unspoken question on her face: _What are we going to do_?

Hank just gave a helpless shrug.

_At least the others were alright for the moment_, she thought. _At least…_

Diana looked to where the others had been lying, but something was wrong. It took her a moment to realise that one was missing. he Cavalier wasn't with the others!

Surprisingly, instead of the shock she expected a small voice in the back of her mind whispered _that's just typical of the damned Cavalier! He just can't stay out of trouble!_

Why hadn't she notice this before? He was kinda hard to miss in blue and yellow! What hadn't she seen him?

She looked round desperately searching, and suddenly her eyes fell on the small step just below the Sarcophagus.

A bizarre mix of embarrassment and fear flooded through her.

Eric was lying there on the narrow step, his arms off the side and his hands lying on the ground below, in what looked like special carved-out bowls. There were long wickedly curved knives lying on the ground next to him as well.

But the reason she hadn't see him was glaringly obvious and she felt the colour rush to burn in her face.

He was almost the same grey colour as the stone of the floor.

Instead of wearing his clothes, his armour and chainmail, he was naked but for a thin line of rope across his neck.

Her chest tightened and for a few seconds she struggled to breath.

Hank looked at her.

'Diana, are you alright?' he whispered.

She nodded, her head spinning. They had to be quick, they had to be careful. They couldn't afford any more distraction. They had to think up a plan, they had to act. They had to do _something_!

As the Acrobat stared, open-mouthed, at the sight before her, the Lich King moved. It pulled itself up and out of its coffin, the sound of scratching bone and stone filling the air.

But she couldn't concentrate. Her attention was entirely consumed by one simple fact: Eric had no clothes on.

* * *


	5. Inferno

Chapter 5

Inferno

For a moment, it had seemed that nothing would be able to drag her attention way from the prone Cavalier, but Diana noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. At the same instant, she heard a gasp of horror from Hank.

She jerked her head up and round to see the Lich King pushed itself slowly out of its Sarcophagus. When it stood to its full height, it towered over the Mummies in its entourage, and its brittle, shabby clothes hung loosely around its skeletal form and on its head the grown seemed to glow with a light of its own. In one hand it held a long and slender black rod with a white tip that was almost as tall as it was.

Neither Hank nor Diana moved, both frozen with dread. They stayed as still as they could, peeping over the partition wall that hid them. She had never been so grateful for cover before.

The creature in front of them radiated power and majesty, and Diana was overcome by something akin to despair. They had no idea how to defeat it, or how to help their friends. It seemed impossible.

Then an unfamiliar anger burned inside the Acrobat. This wasn't how it was going to end! They had survived _impossible_ adventures before, and defeated things far more powerful that this Lich King! They'd taken on Venger any number of times and won, and a Lich had less power than the Arch-Mage!

Diana shivered as her fear changed to confidence. She drew a deep breath and the dry, dusty air almost making her cough.

It _had_ to have a weakness! And they were going to find it and rescue their friends. _Even the naked ones_. She shivered again, trying to think about something else.

The Lich stepped forward, closer to the prone Cavalier. As it moved, three of the Mummies beside the Sarcophagus stepped forward as well. These three seemed to be less shambling and thoughtless as the ones she had seen earlier.

'What are they?' she whispered to the Ranger.

'Must be its servants or something,' Hank whispered in reply.

'Or it's fan club!' she muttered without thinking.

Hank blinked at her in surprise, taken aback by her flippant answer, but only for a moment. Then he grinned back, maybe seeing the new confidence in her eyes.

'Whatever they are,' he said, 'we're going to have to do something about them. And quickly! You got any suggestions?'

Diana shook her head, but there was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that she did know something, _something someone had said_…

As she glanced round t o Hank, something caught her attention, and she looked back to the Lich King. It seemed to be staring at her! Directly at her. She stopped dead still, looking back at it, hoping that she was wrong.

It kept staring.

She hadn't been imagining things. It had definitely seen her and Hank.

The Acrobat almost let go of the wall there and then, ready to jump down and run as fast as she could. But none of them made any sort of threatening move towards them. None of them, bar the Lich King itself, even acknowledged their existence.

Diana frowned.

It was like they didn't care.

And after chasing them all around the city trying to catch them… why didn't they care now? A sudden thought came to back her. Why hadn't they tried to catch her before this? Unconscious, helpless, she should have been a simple target. Why hadn't they tried to find her?

'Have you seen what I've seen?' she whispered.

'Yeah,' Hank whispered back. 'Only one option, we've got to get out of here.'

'Wait,' she said suddenly. 'Just a moment. Just wait.' She glanced at Hank, who shrugged back at her. 'They don't seem to care,' she whispered to him.

'No, they don't, do they,' replied Hank thoughtfully. 'They don't care about us.'

'They don't care about us… _now_.'

'What do you mean?'

Diana wasn't sure, but the first glimmer of understanding had started in the back of her mind. She held up her hand to forestall any more questions for the moment.

'Maybe… maybe they only needed four of us,' she said. 'And maybe it's so arrogant that it doesn't see us as a threat. We don't look like that much of a threat!'

'_Maybe_ is right,' murmured Hank. 'That's a big assumption to base any plan on!'

Ahead of them, the Lich King was still standing, preparing his tools. The Mummies close by hadn't moved, even though this short conversation. They really didn't care less what she and Hank did.

'It's the only explanation,' she said. 'Just look at them!'

Then, without warning, the Lich King lifted its rod. And it roared.

His army did the same and the whole Pyramid filled with a low rumble of sound.

Diana cowered down against the wooden wall, covering her ears as best she could, as Hank did the same. She could feel the noise of the Lick King reverberating through her, making her bones shake and her head feel like it was going to explode.

She had never heard anything like it before, a noise so deep and loud and piercing that it made her body ring with agony. Tears started in her eyes from the pain in her skull.

Just when she though the pain would last forever, the volume died away and the roaring stopped.

For a few seconds, neither Diana nor Hank could move. Like aftershocks from an earthquake, there were still tremors though her body and she felt like she would never be able to move again.

In those few seconds, despair almost took hold of her again. Such a show of raw power was unbelievable! It seemed like there was nothing they could do.

Turning to Hank, she saw a stern expression on his face.

'We're gonna call it's bluff!' he said in a decisive tone.

'We're _what_?'

'I'm going to go and distract them,' he said firmly. Diana opened her mouth to argue, but she was too slow. 'You have to get to the others, Sheila and Presto, and Bobby. Wake them up, especially Presto. We need magic!'

'You're going to distract them?' she managed incredulously. 'That's insane! There are hundreds of them! And you're just going to walk up and fire arrows at them?'

There was a whisper of something, a memory perhaps, in the back of her mind. She knew something. Or she should have known something, anyway, some other way to deal with Mummies, but she was distracted by Hank.

'They don't see us as a threat,' he said. 'Well, let's take advantage of that and show them we want all our friends back. And in one piece as well!'

There was an anxious pause, and Hank seemed to be thinking the same thing as she was, though he probably wasn't as embarrassed about it.

'W-what about Eric,' she muttered, feeling herself go slightly red once again.

'Nothing's going to happen to him,' said Hank firmly. 'He'll be fine.'

As he said the last word, there was another rumble, and a bright tongue of flame leaped out from beside the Lich King. Diana saw the fire rise from a small golden censer that sat nearby. It flickered with orange, and seemed to send a warm but out-of-place glow around the interior. And it seemed to Diana that every single one of the Mummies in the room moved slightly backwards with one accord, away from the source of the fire. _Something someone said…_

Hank turned to her, and gripped her arm tightly and disrupting her train of thought.

'Get to the others,' he said. 'Wake them up as fast as you can.'

They looked each other in the eye, and for a moment Diana sensed the tremendous pain and worry that being the one in charge always brought. There was no doubt in her mind that the _only_ thing that Hank wanted to do was rush to Sheila's side and make sure she was safe. But he couldn't. He was needed somewhere else. At the moment, going to Sheila was very low down on his list of priorities. And that clearly _hurt_.

'I'll get them,' she whispered, gripping his hand. 'I'll get all of them.'

Hank gave a slight nod, then turned back to face the arena. With a quick, fluid movement he wriggled over the wall and dropped down to the dry, dusty floor.

Diana's heart was thumping with the speed of a machine gun, but none of the Mummies seemed to bother about him, at least at the moment.

For the first time, she actually thought their plan might work.

Head held high, Hank strode through the throng of Mummies, who seemed to step back out of his way.

She could hardly take her eyes off him, but Diana knew she had a job to do. She had to get to the others. She had to get help.

After waiting for a few seconds to make sure that Hank was alright, Diana swung herself over the wall and dropped down to the floor, ready to spring out of the way of any Mummies. But none of them turned to her and she crept quietly along the edge of the interior, working her way towards the others.

As she moved Diana kept glancing round at Hank, just to make sure he was ok. The Mummies didn't seem to be bothering him, and he had walked all the way from the wall to before the altar by the time she had reached Presto, Bobby and Sheila.

She had crept forward as unobtrusively as possible, even though she still felt glaringly obvious. Presto, Sheila and Bobby were lying side by side, sitting propped up against the far wall. They looked as if they were just sleeping.

Diana stopped, putting her hand on the Magician's shoulder and gave him a shake, but she was more interested in Hank.

The Lich King took a few moments to react to the Ranger's presence.

'Mortal warrior!' it boomed, its voice echoing round the inside of the pyramid. 'Leave us!'

Hank didn't move. Diana was sure she could see him shaking, the unsteady light from the flame seemed to cast long shadows over his face and he held the Bow tightly against himself, as if it would stop the creature just by being there.

Slowly, the Lich King peered down at the Ranger, perhaps trying to see if there was anything to be afraid of.

'By who's power do you come here, and profane my Temple?' it asked. The white tip of the rod began to glow. Diana's heart sunk even further. This wasn't going to work. Why had she let Hank go through with this? Why hadn't she stopped him? This was madness!

Though Hank didn't reply, the Lich King seemed to nod, as if understanding something.

'So, you step forth as the City's Champion,' it said, with what sounded like a sneer in its voice. 'You dare to challenge _me_?'

It was impossible to guess what Hank was thinking, but Diana knew what she would be thinking, if it had been her.

There was a deep silence like she had never heard before, and the Lich King seemed to be waiting for an answer.

Diana shook Presto's shoulder again, but more half-heartedly. She was too busy staring at Hank.

Finally, the Ranger nodded.

The Lich-King seemed surprised, though it was difficult to tell exactly what it was thinking. But then Hank very slowly lifted his Bow and pulled an arrow. Its clear, golden light cast stark shadows on the walls, mingling with the light from the flaming censer and the green of the torches.

There was no laughter or mockery now. The Lich King growled.

'You have much strength,' it said. 'Enough to master your fear.'

'Release my friends,' said Hank. His voice shook.

'No.'

'Release them!'

'I must have them,' it replied with a hiss. 'I must have them. My four parts shall be of Youth, Purity, Magic and Valour. I must have them _all_.'

'_Release them_!' Hank's voice shook again, but more with power than fear. Again, the Lich King tipped forward, looking down on Hank.

'You fight for them? For their freedom? So be it!'

There came another roar, much like the one earlier, but not so deep or painful.

Though she didn't want to, Diana turned back to Presto, frantically shaking his shoulder. She could hear noises behind her, but she didn't dare to look round. For about a few seconds she shook his shoulder before he started to show any sign at all that he would wake up.

Then the Magician moaned slightly and tried to turn over as if to go back to sleep.

'C'mon, Presto!' she whispered, giving him another shake. 'C'mon! Wake up!'

'Uh,' he murmured.

'C'mon! Wake up, wake up!'

Diana frowned. This was taking too long for her liking. Still shaking Presto, the Acrobat turned back to glance at Hank. The Lich King loomed over him like a great tidal wave of grey, with magic glittering at the tips of his bony fingers and lights dancing around the ground. Hank fired more arrows, but they almost seemed to past straight through the Lich King. They needed something more, Hank couldn't stand up to him alone. She turned back to the Magician.

'Presto wake up! NOW!' she hissed at him. He twitched slightly, and Diana shook him harder.

'Uh! Di…ann… na?' he mumbled, his eyes fluttering.

She shook him harder, virtually shoving him back and forth, but she didn't dare try any harder, as she was afraid she might hit his head against the wall!

'WAKE UP!' she hissed in his ear, wishing she could shout, or tip cold water over him! 'We need your help! Wake up! _WAKE UP_!'

Much to her relief, Presto half-opened one bleary eye.

'Uh?' he said. 'Di-ana?'

'Get up! Get your Hat! There're Mummies. And a Lich! We need your help!'

Presto turned over groggily.

'Not me,' he murmured, closing his eyes again. 'Wake me when it's over.'

'Presto!' snapped Diana, shaking him again. 'Stop sleeping, you have to help me!'

She raised her hand to give him a good, hard slap across the face, but suddenly stopped.

There was that feeling again.

She didn't have to wake him up. She didn't have to ask him, as she already knew. He'd already told her. She just couldn't remember… It was so close she could almost feel the memory pushing itself against the front of her head.

It was infuriating.

She knew. It was all here. She didn't need anything else.

_Someone_ had said it.

_Presto_ had said it…

What was it? They had been all standing together. Presto had said something… _Presto had said something to Eric…_

'We'd better hope that it's "might",' said Eric, with a heavy sigh. 'We really don't want to meet anything like that! Not while the others are missing.'

_Presto's lip curled up in distaste, but he nodded._

'_Oh, relax guys!' said Eric suddenly, and in his best sarcastic voice. 'The best way to deal with the Undead is to get away from them as fast as possible!'_

'_Or cremate them,' added Presto._

Her breath caught. That was it. Presto hadn't been being sarcastic, he had really meant it. Fire! That was what they needed!

_Fire!_

The whole realisation had only taken a fraction of a second. Diana whipped round to look at the Lich King as Hank struggled to stand up. There, just in front of the Lich, beside the altar (and Eric) was the censer, and the bright orange flame.

It was the only fire in the whole area, the rest of the torches had the eerie green glow to them. The Mummies had all seemed afraid of it when it was lit.

She was up in a moment, reaching for her Javelin and letting it extend. She didn't stop to let herself wonder if she was wrong. She was _right_.

Fire was the answer. Maybe it wouldn't do much harm to the King itself, but it would certainly make those Mummies think twice about attacking; they were as dry and dusty as paper.

Diana dived forward, swinging her weapon round as she moved. The Javelin connected with the censer giving a resounding clang like a gong. The whole thing toppled over, spreading the red-hot coals over the floor.

The Acrobat rolled past and sprang up as faster as she could. She caught a momentary glimpse of the Lich King glaring at her, its eyes were white dots in the sockets of the skull. Even if she had wanted to, Diana had too much momentum to stop. Instead, using the end of the Javelin, Diana flicked one of the red-hot embers up, as if it were a hockey puck, and sent it flying towards the nearest Mummy.

It was dead on target.

But much to her surprise, the smouldering coal punched a hole straight through the chest of the Mummy. Flames burst across it, and as it flailed its arms the flames seemed to leap across to the others of its kind standing close by.

Diana didn't watch; she flicked another coal across the cave, sending more fire with it. Flames leaped from Mummy to Mummy, sending a plume of acrid smoke up into the air.

There came a deep roar that almost knocked her off her feet. She staggered as pain crashed through her body in a way she could never have imagined.

'Get down,' bellowed Hank from far away. 'Diana! Get _down_!

But she couldn't move, she seemed to be pinned in the air like a fly in amber, frozen for all time. She couldn't even see what was happening. Tears were squeezed from her eyes, and she couldn't breathe. She felt blood thudding in her ears and her heart pounded so hard she thought that it might explode.

The roaring stopped abruptly, and Diana toppled to the floor, gasping for breath, her chest aching. She could hear the distinctive whoosh of Hank's energy arrows, but didn't have the strength to turn round. It was all she could do to keep swallowing air. But fortunately the pain subsided to manageable levels within a few seconds, and she looked up.

The cavern was so filled with smoke it was a wonder any of them could breathe at all! The ground as covered in streaks of grey ash, but there were virtually no Mummies anywhere; the last few were at the back, smouldering but not moving.

Closer to where she sat, the Lich King and Hank were still fighting. They seemed to have reached some sort of stalemate; Hank couldn't destroy it with his arrows he could only slow it down, but the Lich King couldn't stop Hank from firing either, the loss of its army seemed to have drained some of its power. But that situation was not going to last forever. Hank was going to get tired eventually, probably sooner rather than later.

She had to do something to help.

Her gaze fell on the glowing hot embers that lay close beside her. It had worked once, there was no reason why it shouldn't work again! Even if fire didn't kill it, it would at least buy Hank a little time.

The Acrobat pushed herself up off the ground once again as fast as she could, moving forward to get herself closer to the coals at the same time. For all she knew the Lich King would be able to let about yet another roar, and she didn't know if her body could stand that again.

As before, she pushed the end of her Javelin under an ember and flicked it up, on target, straight towards the Lich King. It struck just below its shoulder, and the thin layer of shabby clothes burst suddenly into flame.

It roared once more, but this time the sound had none of the power of before. It was angry!

She saw a rain of golden arrows fly past. Each time one hit, the Lich King staggered back, the flames rushing all over its body. There was a strong smell of hot metal and burning cloth.

More arrows slammed into it and the creature began to fall backwards. As it fell there was one last, muffled roar, then a huge plume of smoke and dust billowed up.

The crown hit the ground with a clang, and then there was silence.

After a few seconds, the Ranger, flopped backwards, exhausted, to the ground, and Diana too breathed a sigh of relief. As she looked up, though there was still a haze of smoke, she realised that she could see the stars. The whole Pyramid had disappeared, it had just vanished and there was mo sign that it had ever been there.

Hank and Diana looked at each other through the wisps of drifting smoke. Hank gave her a tired but proud smile.

'That was fantastic, Diana!' he said.

She grinned, but didn't reply. Hank was too busy looking past her to where Sheila and Presto and Bobby were lying. Then there was a frantic bleat from close by, and Uni came galloping towards Bobby.

Just behind the Ranger, Diana could see Eric, lying serenely on the altar, his face more peaceful than she had ever seen. For a moment she didn't dare take her eyes off his face. He was still naked, she knew, and the thought made her blush once again. Fortunately, Hank stood up, and started over to the others by the wall, and Diana followed, glad of the activity.

The Ranger knelt down beside Sheila, taking her hand very gently. She shifted slightly in her sleep, and gave a tiny smile.

'Do you think she's gonna be ok?' Hank asked.

Diana shrugged, and opened her mouth to tell him what had happened with Presto, when there was a new voice beside them.

'Congratulations my children,' said Dungeonmaster, appearing from behind the Sarcophagus.

'Dungeonmaster!' said Diana and Hank together.

The old man gave a slow bow, and smiled at the two Young Ones. His gaze fell on their immobile companions.

'Do not worry, all is well with your friends,' their Guide said. 'They sleep for now but they will, very soon, recover.'

Dungeonmaster turned to Diana and gave her a bow.

'And my congratulations to you, Acrobat, on your courage, skill and ingenuity.'

A wide smile spread over her face as she blushed yet again, pleased at the praise from their Guide.

'Yeah, Diana, whatever made you think of fire?' asked Hank.

'Just a chance remark,' she replied with a shrug. 'I'll have to thank Presto later!'

She glanced down at the sleeping form of the Magician as he sat propped up against the wall, his Hat askew and a tranquil expression on his face. Diana gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder and he smiled in his sleep.

'But what about the Lich King?' asked Hank. 'Where did it come from? Why did it need us? And what for?'

'This creature has slept in this necropolis for a thousand years,' said Dungeonmaster slowly. 'It's origin is shrouded in legend, and it was a fearsome enemy of the Realm, even I could not had guessed that such a creature had risen in this city. But now Kish may sleep in peace. You have done much more than you realise in setting these spirits free from evil.'

There were many questions still unanswered, but Dungeonmaster didn't seem interested in telling them any more; a situation that she had noticed happening more and more recently. But she still wanted to know more, and the mention of evil had reminded her of an important question.

'But what about those statues of Venger?' she asked suddenly. 'Why were they broken and defaced?'

The Guide gave her a curious look, and frowned so much that she almost regretted asking.

'Not all that is evil align themselves with Venger,' said Dungeonmaster sombrely. 'And you would do well to remember that, my children.'

Hank and Diana looked at each other, but by the time they looked back their Guide had gone.

'That's just typical!' said Diana with a huff. 'He's getting worse! He's…'

She checked herself, and didn't continue with the diatribe that she could have said; she was beginning to sound more like Eric than she was comfortable with.

'Yeah!' said Hank. 'He was never that good at answering questions before!'

'And what are we gonna do with them?' she asked, jerking her thumb at their sleeping friends. 'He didn't really give us an answer.'

'Guess we'll just have to let 'em sleep it off!'

In the silence that followed, both Hank and Diana looked across to the Cavalier as he lay. Her blushing seemed to have stopped, and she was able to think more rationally about Eric. At least at the moment.

'I suppose you'd better go cover him up, he might get cold,' said Diana.

Hank grinned at her.

'I can't even _start_ to think about what he's going to say when he finds out what happened to him.'

Diana grinned back. If any of the others woke before he did, he was going to get the teasing of a lifetime! Especially if it was Bobby!

'Eric's not gonna be very pleased.' They looked at each other and the grins turned to giggles.

'But at least he got to sleep through the danger!' added Hank.

'Trust our Cavalier to get himself into this!' said Diana through the laughter. 'Is there anyone else who could attract so much trouble?'

Still laughing, Hank gathered up Eric's cape from close by and went over to cover the sleeping Cavalier.

Settling back comfortable to wait as he friends recovered, Diana watched Hank draped the cape over Eric. She gave a wicked smile. She was never going to let him hear the end of this one! Not for a long, long time!

* * *

The End

* * *

Author's Notes

The white Rocs kinda appeared by accident, but their description and the bad omen they portend come from the Monstrous Manual.

Also the design of this story, with its low level house was inspired by the X-Box game "Gauntlet – Dark Legacy", especially the desert level.

Once apon a time, a long, long, LONG time ago, I had a dream which involved part of this story, where Diana and Eric are forced to hide in the old house and then Eric is overwhelmed by the Mummies (I had in fact been playing Gauntlet: Dark Legacy a little bit TOO much, I think and it had leaked into my dreams!). For a long time I was going to use it in the Season 3 finale, but that turned out to be set in a different sort of place, so this was shunted backwards. But I am very pleased it has finally found a good use.

And finally – I'm sorry for the delay in finishing this one off - I have found it really hard going in places, especially getting it to the end, and I'm relieved it's over!

* * *

Next : Serendipity - Part I

The Young Ones travel to the sacred Monastery at Esagil for a very special party and the chance to relax for a while in safety. But as always, it doesn't go _quite_ as planned.


End file.
